KOTF Part I: Resurgence
by BlazeMarko14
Summary: In a galaxy at war, the Empire against the Rebellion, there are secrets never told, roads never taken, and holes never filled. But, one of those secrets may come to light. When one of those secrets has the ability to destroy the Empire completely and change history, the Sith will do whatever they can to destroy that secret: a boy bent to change the future. (Adven, Susp, Rom.)
1. Chapter I: Discovery

**Ok! Here is Knight of the Force!**

 **This is the start of PART I: RESURGENCE**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **I** **: Discovery**

 ** _"_** ** _Something's getting in the way; something's just about to break; I will try to find my place…" Breaking Benjamin-Diary of Jane._**

I awoke with a start.

My head was throbbing and my entire body was drenched in a thin blanket of sweat. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest, almost as if it wanted to burst out of its containment. But it wouldn't. I sat up in the complete shroud of the darkness, my hand was clutched to my chest and my other one was hanging loosely by my side.

My vision was blinded by the darkness that engulfed my room. I did sleep in the dark after all. So, this didn't come as a shock to me. What did come as a shock to me though was that I was sweating. I never sweat in my sleep. Maybe there were one or two instances where I'd been in a similar position as now, but it was still different than _this._

I reached for my lamp that was on the nightstand beside my bed. As I fingered for the switch, I knocked over my green sports class water bottle. It fell against the hardwood nightstand, sending a loud reverberation through the entire room. I silently cursed as I quickly picked up my bottle, hoping that no one had heard that. It was, after all, only about—I cast a glance to my clock near the right corner of my room—2:30 in the morning. Everybody was sleeping.

I flicked the lamp on with a double twist of the switch near the bulb and sat up, my eyes readjusting to the change in light. As my eyes refocused, I let out a yawn. I was tired. But I wasn't _tired_. I could go back to sleep, but my body wouldn't have it like that. Sometimes it got like this. I had no control over it.

Though, maybe being awake was a good thing. I smiled slightly, the impulsive movement of my face casting a shadow in the wake of the light shining through the transparent shade covering the lamp. I yawned again as I felt a sudden pressure on my shoulders. I hadn't realized I was stretching until they fell and the bones in my shoulders popped twice.

I flinched slightly as a third, unforeseen, pop occurred. I was prepared for the two normal pops, but the third caught me off guard. Stretching the muscles in my shoulder out, I reached over with my other hand and picked up my water bottle taking a swig from it.

I looked back at the clock and sighed loudly, but not too loudly that it would exceed the confinement of the room. It was now 3:00. I flopped back onto my pillow and closed my eyes, but sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned in my bed, finding it incredibly and inexplicably hot. Then again, I _was_ sweating half an hour ago and sweat dried slower than water, or at least it did in my opinion.

I opened my eyes again and looked at the clock.

5:14.

There was only one minute till I was supposed to get up.

I quickly sat upright in my bed and reached my hand out toward my clock. Suddenly, the alarm button flew forward, shutting off the alarm. I blinked a few times.

"What? I didn't touch it." I said to myself aloud. There was just no explanation for it to shut off by itself. And there certainly wasn't any explanation for the button to move on its own. I stayed in my stretched position for a moment before I brought myself back to reality and closed my eyes. When I opened them, the alarm went off and the button was back where it was only a moment ago, as if nothing had happened.

"That's because nothing _did_ happen." I said to myself as I shut the alarm off manually. I flung my legs over the side of the bed and, within thirty minutes, was ready for school. Today was Friday, and, for the oddest reasons, I felt that today was going to be an interesting day. Not because I imagined the alarm setting itself off, no, it was something else completely. It was that gut feeling you have when you know, or don't know, about something.

* * *

I walked into class, swinging my book bag over my shoulders and onto the ground. Of course, I was the first one in besides the teacher. I took the six chairs at the table and put them on the ground, then resumed to sit in my own. I was about to pull out my math folder when my head started to throb. The same type of throb I felt this morning. I clutched my head and bent down to get the folder. The throbbing suddenly subsided and I felt a clearness settle in my mind. Confused, I took a glance around the room. Classmates were coming through the door now and taking their seats. As always, the first person of my group, Madi, came in. I greeted her briefly before turning back to the doorframe.

It was several minutes before all of the class was assimilated in the room. I cast a glance over to my friend, Diane, "Hey Diane."

"Hey." was her short response. She groaned and ducked her head under her arms as she flopped her arms on the table.

"You ok?" I asked.

She looked up and gave a short laugh, "I'm exhausted. I was up last night finishing a report for World History."

"That bad?" I said, "It looks like you only got an hour of sleep, Diane."

"I might as well of." She replied, groaning again. She blew out a sigh, "At least today's a short day. When I get home, I'm gonna flop down on my bed and sleep."

I chuckled, "Seems like a plan."

Suddenly, the throbbing came back and I involuntarily looked backwards. At the door was Mrs. Heart, but only her. She was obviously talking to someone, but that other person was hid from my view. At first I thought it was another teacher. However, when she came back in, it wasn't a teacher. It was a blonde-headed girl.

I raised my brow slightly as the throbbing slightly increased at the sight of the girl. Mrs. Heart explained that she was a new student that had transferred from Southlake High. She would be joining the class.

I nudged Diane, "New girl?"

Diane shrugged, "Guess so."

I watched as the girl took a seat next to Anne, or Andria, and pulled out a binder. She was very well prepared. I looked at her as she turned around for another item from her book bag. She was attractive too. That wasn't something you saw in high school a lot: A pretty girl organized and ready for the day.

The girl suddenly looked up and caught my gaze. Instead of turning around like I normally did, I held the gaze. The girl gazed right back and seemed to be scrutinizing me. It was only fair, I did go first.

As the class was coming to an end, Mrs. Heart gave us the one thing she barely ever did: free time. The blonde-headed girl came over with her chair and saw where the desk across from me and my desk connected. She held out her hand, "My name's Terra."

"Terra?" I asked and she nodded. I took the hand, "Name's James."

The throbbing suddenly stopped and I felt a surge of pins and needles spread like fire across my skin. The girl merely smiled. I felt my eyes go blank like I had just sat up really fast and my breath was caught short. The girl, however, was unaffected.

"It's nice to meet you, James." Terra said softly, _too_ softly, "I apologize in advance."

I felt my eyes started to go blank again, "For what? What the heck?" My arm was thrown into a wicked spasm and then went limp in Terra's hand. I couldn't move it. I couldn't move anything.

I used what strength my body had left, "D-Diane!"

My other classmates were staring now in confusion. Some in fear though. I could see Alek looking like one of us had two heads. Diane was too shocked to move. I saw Madi and Bri just staring wide-eyed.

"What are you doing to him?!" It was Alek. He reached across the table to disconnect our hands, but was violently flung backwards by nothing. At least it seemed like nothing. He hit the white-bricked wall, his head taking most of the force, and he slumped to the ground, unmoving.

"Alek!" Lyla shouted, "Mrs. H-Heart!"

I saw Mrs. Heart turn, but she never fully turned around. She suddenly slumped to the ground, a needle protruding from the side of her neck. A dark robed figure stood behind her. His face was shielded though. In my hazy state, I couldn't make out what type of mask. Heck, I couldn't make out much but the outline of the figures surrounding me.

Screams suddenly broke out and thuds followed. I could see Terra though. Her facial features remained the same but a hint of…of…well, I didn't point it out, but it spelled trouble.

Ali suddenly stood up and ran over, "What are you doing!?" She was screaming at the hooded figure.

"Ali!" I shouted hoarsely. This was the first time I felt completely useless and immobile, "Run! Diane! Run! Everybody, run!"

Suddenly, a sharp, painful strike to the back of my neck turned my vision from blurry to black. The last thing I heard was the screams and thumping of terrified feet. But, it wasn't just the classrooms. It was the entire school's panicked run.

The last thing that went through my head was: _What the hell!?_

* * *

I blinked my eyes rapidly and sat up straight, my head still foggy. I looked around at where I was. It was a completely metal room with a metal bunk and a weird looking toilet and an equally weird looking sink.

It was a prison cell.

I felt panic start to come on me and my heart sped up.

 _Calm down. Calm down._ I said to myself in my head. I sat there in silence for about five more minutes before the doors to my cell flew open. They weren't the doors I was expecting though. They were solid, silver doors with a black and red line running over on the right side. There was a ding when they swished open too.

I felt anger rise up in me immediately when I saw who it was. It was Terra. I stood up, "What the hell did you do?!"

Terra put her hands up, "Calm down. You are unharmed."

"Unharmed?" I repeated, "Yes, I'm not hurt. But my friends are! Where are they?!"

Terra merely smiled, "Getting a little angry are we?"

I scowled at her, "Of course I am. What the heck do you want with me and my school?"

"With your school, nothing much." Terra replied then pointed a finger at me, "Now you, that's another story entirely."

"What does that mean?" I shouted. I was literally two seconds away from flipping out and attacking her. I didn't care if she was a girl or not.

"It means that there was a _reason_ you were brought here." Terra said and motioned from the open door, "Now, I imagine you're hungry. You've been unconscious for over half of the standard day."

 _Standard day?_ I snorted, "Why would you think that I would ever follow you after what you did?"

Terra shrugged, "I don't know. Just offering. Oh, your friend, Alek was it, is quite alright. He sustained a minor head wound and is being dressed for it. He will be fine in a couple of days. I imagine that's one of the main reasons you're mad at me."

"I'm mad at you for a lot of reasons, that's just one of them." I said lowly, barely registering her words about my friend, "What did you do with my other classmates?"

Terra wagged a finger, "No, no, I will only tell you if you follow me. An eye for an eye as you and your planet says."

"My planet?" I questioned, very confused but very angry, "Just who are you?!"

"My name _is_ Terra, if that's what you mean. Terra Brax." The blonde girl in front of me said, "Now, are you coming or not."

"Not until you tell me what you meant by 'your planet'." I said defiantly.

Terra shook her head, amusement on her face, "You're cute _and_ funny."

I felt myself blush slightly, but I kept a straight face, "What are you talking about?"

Terra smiled as she looked back at me, "You're acting like you've never…" She trailed off with a thoughtful glance, "Never mind, now you come with me or you might get hungry in here alone."

She was avoiding my question, I discovered without any real shock. Of course she would. I shrugged off my entire being that urged me to keep pestering her and I nodded curtly, "Fine. But you're gonna tell me where my friends are."

Terra laughed, "Only if you listen to me first."

We walked out the door and into the long, metallic hallway that was lined with red lights and clear ones. The hallway was long and there was an open space for me to run.

 _What if I…_ I thought to myself as Terra turned to lock the cell on a glowing panel that was on the wall. The panel, on the other hand, looked very familiar. It was only about nine inches high and five inches wide and had a variety of little bubble buttons on the pad itself. It reminded me of a mini-iPad for a moment.

I smiled to myself. _She's distracted! Now I can…_

My thoughts were cut off as I felt Terra's free arm grab my right forearm. She activated the lock on the door and turned her head to me, "Now, now, you weren't planning to run away were you?"

I swallowed, "It would've been better than here."

Terra looked hurt, "Aw, and I thought we were becoming friends."

I gave a sarcastic laugh, "We're not friends. Now just take me to wherever you want to take me then take me to my friends."

"Fine." Terra said and let go of my arm and started to walk, "But if you try to run I'll just detain you again."

I didn't respond and followed her. Soon we entered a room that was similar to the lunchroom but much smaller and the tables were more sleek, and black. I walked over to a plate of food. It looked like steak but it was shaped differently and smelt differently. It wasn't in its weird oval shape, it was in a weird rectangular shape with a curved end.

I looked up to Terra who sat in front of me, "What is this?"

Terra laughed, "Just eat it."

I reluctantly picked up a fork and took a bite. It tasted almost exactly like steak. After a few more bites, I placed my fork down and frowned, "I've eaten. Now take me to my friends."

Terra stood, "Soon."

I stood up and slammed my hands on the table, the sound wave traveling through the entire room, "That wasn't the deal! Take me to my friends now!"

Terra flinched slightly but then laughed, "Now, you're getting angry again."

"Shut up!" I shouted and reached forward and grabbed her shoulders, "Take me to my friends now!"

Terra smiled, "In a moment."

I frowned, my anger starting to make my stomach cave and my heart speed up. I was on the breaking point. I reared my hand back in a punch, but stopped once I realized what I was doing. I let go of her shoulders and sat back down.

I sighed, "Just take me to my friends. I just want to make sure that they're alright."

"They are fine." said Terra. "The ones we took are retrieving similar care to you on another part of this ship."

"We're on a boat?" I asked aloud more than to her.

"A boat?" Terra asked, confused slightly, "No, no, this is an Imperial-Class Stardestroyer. The _Torrent_."

I stared at her in shock. She had just said a Stardestroyer. Only in my favorite science-fiction series had I heard of such a thing. Suddenly, it all came together like the pieces in a puzzle. Terra was a character from that universe and now my entire class got sucked into it.

 _Well shit._

"I've never actually seen a real Stardestroyer before." I admitted, while trying to calm my racing pulse at the same time.

Terra nodded, "Sorry, I didn't expect you too. I forgot that this galaxy isn't ruled by my master."

"Your master?" I asked, slightly afraid. "Who is he?"

"My master is Lord Emperor Palpatine." She said with pride in her voice.

I felt my stomach turn over. I took a step back, "Palpatine?! You're a Sith!?"

Terra shrugged, "Not yet. I'm only an adept right now."

"If Palpatine has you, then why do you need me?" I asked, taking another step back from the table.

Terra sighed and sat down, "I might as well tell you everything. My master sent me to investigate a vortex that appeared unexplainably in the Rishi Maze. He said that nothing had occurred like that before. It was my first mission and I accepted it. Once I found out about a large cluster of powerful energy, I tracked it down to your school. My master told me to create records, make documents, do anything I could to get into there and take it without causing mass panic."

"I was one of those energies?" I asked, shocked.

"One of the strongest." said Terra. "In fact, it was that exact reason that I rendered you unconscious. I didn't know what kind of fight you would put up."

I started to turn but two men in familiar white cladded armor walked through the entrance door and stood alert. They were carrying E-11 blaster rifles. They were Stormtroopers.

"Damn it." I muttered, "Stormtroopers _and_ Sith, great."

Terra stood up and walked around slowly to me. I took steps back every time she got closer. Terra took another step forward and her robes fluttered in the air. Around her waist was a lightsaber. It resembled Starkiller's from the _Force Unleashed II_ trailer. I frowned. Even if I made a run for it, she still had a lightsaber and the Stormtroopers.

As she neared even closer, an idea formed in my head.

 _She said I was one of the strongest energies. Time to find out!_ I looked behind me and saw the durasteel wall coming closer from me moving backwards. I suddenly stopped and Terra followed suit.

She smirked, "Afraid, are we?"

I swallowed, "Yes, but I won't let that get to me." I reached my hand out and I felt a rush of wind flow through me. It was cold, but soothing. It was the Force. Terra's lightsaber flew off her waist and into my hand. I ignited the blade with a swift click from the activation button in the middle of the weapon. The blade was crimson. The weapon of the Sith.

Terra's eyes widened, "I didn't think that you would be able to do that for some time."

I smirked, "I am a fast learner."

"Are you now?" Terra sounded pensive, "Well then, prove it. If you can disable my troopers than I'll take you to your friends."

"Why don't I just try to disable _you_ first?" I said angrily, "Then I'll take care of your troopers."

Terra laughed, "By all means, you can try."

She was goading me. I could see that. She wanted my anger and rage to boil over and become sloppy. She wanted me to use the Dark Side. I inwardly sighed. Maybe I _was_ in the _Star Wars_ world.

I shook my head, "Fine. I'll take your troopers. But, when I win, you _will_ take me to my friends."

"Seems fair." said Terra with a smile. She raised her hand and the troopers ran over to her side. She stepped back and the troops followed. I held the blade up in defense as I had done many times when playing with my brother. The lightsaber was lighter than I thought and moved with less of a pull then I thought.

Suddenly, a double click brought me back to the scene in front of me. Both Stormtroopers had their guns loaded and pointed in my direction. Terra was standing calmly behind them, not concerned for me in the least.

And she shouldn't be. She was, after all, an adept for Palpatine. And if Palpatine had organized this whole thing, like he did in the movies with the Clone War, then he had bigger plans than what he was letting on to his adepts and, most likely, Vader.

The Stormtrooper on the left fired first, his gun making the respectful noise accustomed to it. I brought the lightsaber up fast and deflected the shot. The red bolt of energy flew up into the air and disintegrated on the ceiling, leaving a black scorch mark on it.

The Stormtrooper that had shot first fired again and again. Each time, I deflected the bolts one by one. All of a sudden, the second trooper added his own blasts into the fray. I was on full defense now. I swiftly batted away the bolts in all directions. Suddenly, one glanced off my blade and struck the Stormtrooper on the right. The blast went through his shoulder and his gun fell from is grip.

I smiled. Now there was only one more. With steady feet, I ran over to the last Stormtrooper and sliced upward. The crimson blade sliced the E-11 in half at the barrel, disarming the trooper completely. I delivered a kick to the side of his knee and he fell to one knee. I kicked upward with my right foot and he flew backwards.

Then the throbbing started again.

 ** _Left…_**

I heard and jumped to the left. A red bolt of energy whizzed by right in the path I was in a second before.

 ** _Right…_**

I jumped to the right and dodged another one. I turned to the source and saw it was the trooper with the injured arm. He pulled out a side-arm pistol and was firing at me. I brought my blade up to the right and deflected his next shot. I reached my hand out and pulled the gun away with the Force. I ran up and kicked his helmet roughly. He slouched against the ground, unconscious.

Both troopers were now unconscious.

 _Heck yeah!_ I turned to Terra. She was smiling.

"Very good, very good." She praised, "You disarmed them and knocked them out."

I nodded and shut off the blade with another click of the button, "I _disabled_ them, now you get to take me to my friends."

Terra nodded and pulled the lightsaber out of my hands and attached it to her belt, "That was part of the deal, but before we go I must ask you something."

I frowned, "One thing then we go."

"Ok." said Terra, "When you were about to attack me, why didn't you do it? I felt your anger and your rage. You need to use it, not suppress it."

I felt my stomach churn, "No, I refuse to use my rage."

"But it makes you stronger." Terra said, her voice changing tones. "I felt the strength it gave you when you were attacking the troopers. Maybe you didn't realize it, but I did."

I sighed deeply. I _did_ use my anger for a moment against the troopers. And the scary thing was that it _did_ make me feel stronger and more focused then when I didn't. The Dark Side was dangerous, though, and was very persuasive. I, however, wasn't swayed easily from a belief. High school showed just that.

"Terra, we have different views, but just take me to my friends."

Terra smiled, "As you wish. I know you'll accept it sooner or later. I hope sooner."

I didn't respond and walked with her as she left the room and the troopers on the floor.

 _I won't turn…_ I thought as the doors swished closed behind me.

* * *

 **There is the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter II: Plans

**Sorry for the wait yall. Here ya go!**

 **And, as I've said before, I do not own any of the music I start each chapter with.**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **II** **: Plans**

 ** _"_** ** _I will not bow; I will not break; I will shut the world away." Breaking Benjamin-Will Not Bow._**

Terra led me down another set of prison cells that matched mine. The doors were the same and the hall looked even more illuminated by that same red light on the right side of the door. However, these doors were marked. Above the top frame of the door it had the basic language on it. I couldn't make out what it said due to my lack of knowledge in that field of information.

We finally stepped in front of a cell and Terra opened it with a swift slide of the control pad. Terra step-sided, "A few of your friends are here. Try not to take too long."

"And why wouldn't I?" I asked quickly.

Terra smiled, "There are several things that you and I still need to go over."

"I doubt that." I said, "I think that you'll find I won't help you at all."

Terra smirked, "We'll see."

Terra walked away, an almost happy skip in her step. Though, I had no idea why she was happy. She probably could sense the resentment I felt for her and how I wasn't going to turn at all. Even if this _was_ real, I wasn't going to make any of the same mistakes that Anakin Skywalker did.

I turned back to the door and walked in. The room was exactly like the one I woke up in. The dark lighting was the same and it was very spacious, almost vacant. The only sentiment of life in there was the three people standing in a corner.

In the dark room, I couldn't make out who they were exactly and I knew that they couldn't make out who _I_ was either. But, there was something else in the room, but it wasn't anything physical. I _felt_ it rather than _saw_ it.

I felt fear. It wasn't my fear I felt, it was _theirs._

"Guys?" I said softly and I saw the three figures shuffled in halted movement. "It's James."

Suddenly the lights flashed above me and they came to full life with a blaze of fury. I blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light, but smiled as I saw the three in the room: Dave, Ali, and Ben.

Dave stared at me wide eyed, "James? What the heck is going on?"

I walked over to him and embraced him in a brotherly hug, "Yeah, it's good to see you're alright too." I said sarcastically, but had no intentions behind it. Dave must've realized it because he returned the embrace wholeheartedly. He never did that on other occasions, so I knew that this experience wasn't one he favored in the slightest.

As we backed off, I looked at Ali as she ran into my arms, her strawberry-blonde hair in my face. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. I held her gently, just as a brother would do to his sister. Ben walked behind her and I released one of my hands and clasped his hand.

Ali raised her head, "What is going on?"

I sighed, "A lot more than I was hoping."

Ben cracked a smile, "That's so cryptic."

I laughed, "You always make a joke, Ben and maybe we needed just that."

Dave frowned and sat on the metal bed, "Can you tell us what is going on?"

Ali took a seat beside Dave and Ben did the same. They all looked at me as I blew out another sigh, "I can tell you…" I frowned, "But it won't be easy to hear."

I retold them about what Terra had said. I told them everything. From the existence of the vortex and the Empire to why we were taken to the events in the mess hall, as I now saw it. I finished by saying that we weren't in a good position and that we had to play by their rules for now.

"What?" said Dave, "We just play ball by the Sith?"

"I don't like the idea either Dave, but we don't have any other choice. Palpatine sent Terra to get _us._ There has to be a reason for it." I said back.

"And you're going to listen to her?" Ben sounded appalled.

I turned to him, "Just until we can get away."

" _Sh_." Ali hushed, "They have cameras in here don't they?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but I saw Terra disable the sound for some odd reason."

"You think she _expects_ us to try to escape?" Ali asked.

I shrugged, "Maybe, but we just have to ignore it for now."

"And do what?" Dave asked.

"Focus." I said, "Focus on getting through this."

"You sound like you _want_ to do this." Dave said accusingly.

I turned to him sharply, "I don't _want_ to do this, Dave, but I _have_ to do this."

"No you don't. You _had_ the opportunity to get away after you took care of the Stormtroopers but you didn't." Dave said standing up.

I frowned at my friend, "I wasn't going to kill anybody and I had to find you guys."

Dave frowned right back, "You could've done both."

I stopped for a moment, "Dave, you're starting to sound like a Sith. Remember who you are! Who I am!" I shouted and he flinched.

Ben stood up and stood between me and Dave, "Calm down. We need to work together, not fight each other."

Ali stood up and walked over to me, "What are you planning to do now?"

I sighed, putting away the anger I was feeling, and sat down on the bed, "I don't know." I admitted, "I've never been in this high-risk situation before."

"Didn't you just say you were going to play ball with her?" Ali asked.

I nodded, "And I will, but I don't know for how long."

Ben looked at me, turning away from Dave, "Are you alright, Jamie?"

I laughed lightly. Jamie is what Ben called me sometimes. He knew my real name and my middle name and sometimes referred to me as Jamie. It was funny sometimes.

I gave a nod, "I'll be alright when I learn more about what happens to us."

Dave walked over, "Maybe Palpatine wants to kill us?"

I felt Ali tense in the Force. She probably couldn't feel it just yet, but she would eventually. I wrapped one of my arms around her. I looked at Dave, "No, if he wanted us dead he would've just ordered Terra to destroy the entire school. He probably wants us to become Sith."

"Become Sith?" Ben echoed, "Like that's gonna happen."

"That just means we'll have to hold out here for a while longer." I said.

Dave nodded, "I guess we'll have too."

Ben sighed, "This is bad, guys."

Ali wrapped her arms around me in a hug and I responded back. I raised my head and turned to Ben, "I know, but we just have to use what we know for our advantage."

Dave nodded, "He's right. He and I know more about this world than any of our school, probably the state."

"But we're not in our state anymore." Ali said, "We're wherever Terra takes us. Which make me think. Where is she taking us?"

I stood up and walked to the door, "I'll find out."

"Wait!" All three said simultaneously. I was almost pushed over in a group hug. I hugged back for a moment before stepping outside and closing the doors with a push of a button. I frowned to myself as I saw their faces. They were filled with sadness and despair. I walked out and closed the cell door with a frown implanting itself deeper into my face.

"Are you finished?" I heard Terra's voice ring from behind me. It wasn't sarcastic though, it was soft.

I nodded and turned to her, "Yeah. What now?"

Terra motioned to the hall, "Now we contact my master to see what I should do next."

I stiffened slightly, "I'm not going to see Sidious."

Terra's eyes widened for a minute before she slammed me into the wall. My head smacked against it, but I flipped immediately around. Terra was directly in front of me with a snarl rumbling through her lips, "How do you know _that_ name?"

My head was throbbing and I stuttered for a moment, "I-I know who he is and what he is. I know that he is known as Palpatine, the Galactic Emperor, but he is actually the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious."

Terra frown deepened, " _How_ do you know this?!"

I placed my hands on her shoulders in an instant and pushed her away. Her hand went to her lightsaber and she ignited the red blade with a click of a button. She was furious. She was driving on her anger.

"Put the lightsaber down, Terra." I said with a new determination in my voice. Even with her having the advantage, I wasn't afraid. I was confident in what I knew. Maybe all those years learning about _Star Wars_ would pay off. I balled my hands into fists and dropped into the...Ataru physical stance.

Terra looked me over, "You're in Form IV stance." She said matter-of-factly.

I smirked, "And I know how to dodge too. If you try to attack then I'll just disarm _you_."

"I'd like to see you try." Terra laughed, "Now, I'll ask you one more time before I'll render you...incapacitated. How do you know my master's real identity?"

"Like I'd ever tell you." I spat, "I'll never tell you, Sith. I _was_ going to play ball with you, but now I'm sure that I can't. You might as well kill me now."

Terra held her blade high over her head and I could tell she was in the Shien attack form. The distance between us, from the wall I was near to the wall she was on the other side, was only about four or five feet. Terra's weapon hummed in sync with my breathing and I held my breath then and there.

"No, I won't kill you. But, I will show you your place." Terra said dangerously calm. She leaped, swinging her blade to my side with low strength, probably just enough to graze my ribs. The attack was swift and well-coordinated. So much so that I thought I wouldn't move quick enough to dodge.

 ** _You can…_**

I heard-or rather felt-the voice again. Calming myself in that half-second before impact, I let the Force flow through me and that chilling sensation filled me completely. Suddenly, there was nothing to fear. There was nothing to be afraid of. It was just me and the lightsaber. No Terra. No world. No fear.

I ducked gracefully and kicked my leg up into Terra's hand, disarming her. She came at me with her fists flying. I caught her first punch and dodged the second. With her hand in my hand, I moved it to the right and she turned involuntarily with it. With my other hand, I pushed her back so she went flying forward and to the ground. I reached my hand out to her lightsaber and pulled it to me with the Force. It clapped in my hand with a slapping sound and I reactivated the weapon, the crimson blade casting a light shadow over us. Terra looked up and I saw a twinge of fear in her eyes.

I pointed the blade at her, the rush of adrenaline still in my system, "Back down."

"No!" She screamed and thrust her good arm forward. At first, nothing, then, I was flying through the air. I landed roughly on my back, but the lightsaber was still in my hand albeit being deactivated again.

I sat up and groaned as I turned the weapon back on. Terra was making a full on sprint for me and had a blaster in her hand. She raised the gun and shot several blasts my way. Two passed by my face, missing me completely, but the next two I blocked. As another shot came forward at me, I ducked and reached deep down inside myself, pulling on the Force again. I thrust my own hand outward and Terra flew through the hall. She flew much farther than I had and she was a Dark Side adept.

Now, Terra was laying on the ground motionless. Her body, from what I could see, was flat on the ground, her front to the floor. I waited a few seconds, just to be sure she was unconscious, before I ran over to where Dave, Ben, and Ali were. I opened the door and they immediately ran out. I shushed them quickly and pointed to Terra.

"She's out cold, but not for long. People like her never stay down for long." I said with a frown.

Dave looked at me, "How did you knock her out?"

I instinctively looked at my hand, "I guess I just used the Force."

Ben laughed slightly, "Okay, okay, James pushed a girl."

I laughed back, "Okay, maybe that's what it was." I raised the lightsaber in my hand, "I've got her lightsaber. If we see any Stormtroopers I can just...get rid of them." I finished carefully.

"What happened to playing ball with her?" Ali asked.

"Well, that plan changed when I accidently said Palpatine's true name." I said gravely, "She was really suspicious and demanded to know. I wasn't going to tell her so she was going to put me in my place. I dodged her attacks and pushed her down the hall with the Force. Simple as that."

"Oh." Ali replied softly.

Dave turned to the entrance of the prison hall, "Guys, we'd better get going and fast."

I nodded, "Good idea, Dave. Follow me."

"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Ben said as we left the hall and ran down another.

I shrugged, "I saw a schematic on one of these things a few weeks ago, I'm sure I can find my way out."

"That doesn't necessarily fill me up with confidence." Ben said, deadpanning.

I held my finger up to my lips and we became still. We threw ourselves to the walls and held our breath. Two Stormtroopers passed by. They were so engaged in their conversation that they didn't notice us near the wall.

"I'm just saying." One of them said, "Lady Brax gave us explicit orders to transport the rest of the prisoners to different sectors, but she kept four up in the brig. Doesn't make much sense."

"It's not gonna." The trooper number two said, "She's got the Force. She does things differently than what we would do."

"But doesn't she see the danger of keeping them on board?" One asked.

Two shook his helmet, "If she does, she doesn't care much. Like I said, she's got the Force and does things differently."

"Well, I'd rather they _all_ be transported then just some. How many were transported again?" One said.

"Four in all, but it would be eight if you count the ones here." Two replied, "They were transported by twos and were taken to two different locations, though, I don't know where."

"Think their Jedi?" One said, his voice lower than normal.

Two shrugged, "Doesn't matter what I think. But, I'd bet that much. It would explain why they were sent off in stealth shuttles and guarded by the Shadowguards."

"Shadowguards?" One sounded baffled, "Who are they?"

Two stopped walking and I watched, while their backs were turned to us, but not out of sight.

"They're a special branch of the Empire who have these long pikes with a red lightsaber coming out the top." Two said, "Dangerous fellows."

"Sound dangerous." One said and they walked out of sight. I cursed softly. The rest of whoever was captured were now somewhere in the galaxy. And I didn't know exactly who were in those shuttles, but I did know the dangers with them. I looked down the hall from where they came from and saw it winding downward. I could also make out the slight glare of some big lights.

"Come on." I whispered and we dashed around the corner and toward the lights. Once at the source, I smiled. It was a hanger. A large, spacious, but not populated hanger. From what I could tell, there weren't any personnel in the hanger bay at all. I laughed lightly at my luck and motioned for the others.

"No one's here." I said and scoped out the area and saw several TIE fighters, the standard ones and frowned. They had no hyperdrive so it would be useless to use one. If we couldn't get away from the Stardestroyer with the hyperdrive, then we'd be ultimately screwed without it.

"Looks like there're plenty of ships to choose from." Ali said, "But they kinda look built for one."

"They are." I said distantly, paying close attention to the other ships, "We're going to have something-never mind, found one." I interrupted myself and pointed ahead. "There, that's what we're taking."

Dave looked at where I was pointing, "A shuttle!"

I nodded, "I know." The shuttle was the _Tydarian-_ class model that came with its own hyperdrive. We ran down the flight steps to the actual hanger and made a sprint to the shuttle. I looked on the side of the landing gear and saw the control pad. I shifted through a file and found the unlocking button. I flipped the switch and steam poured out from the ramp as it slowly descended to the ground with a whirl of its hydraulics.

I took a deep breath and turned to Dave, "Go, prep the shuttle. You do know how right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do. I was once a nut for _Star Wars_ , remember? I'll have this thing ready to fly in a minute."

"Okay, just don't mix up the cooling dampener button with the distress signal button. They are very similar." I said and he nodded, running up the ramp and into the cockpit.

Suddenly, the throb in my head was back, but it was weaker and less intense, but it was something else altogether. Instead of a pain feeling, I felt a dark, dread-like feeling fall on me. I clenched the lightsaber in my hand as I finally realized what was going on.

"James, behind you!" Ben shouted and I whirled around just in time to block a swift downward slash from another red lightsaber.

I stared back into the attacker's face and saw Terra, her eyes glowing with anger. They weren't yellow though. Yellow meant that she was Sith, but she must've not unlocked that hidden anger yet.

I pushed off the attack and kicked outward, catching her by the stomach and she staggered back a few feet. I held my blade up like Obi Wan in _Episode III_ and took a step back.

"Get in the ship" I said to Ben and Ali. They nodded, but Ben stopped for a moment longer before running in. I heard the components in the engine start to whine and sputter. Dave was doing his job. The shuttle would be ready in a minute.

"I see you're trying to escape." Terra said distastefully, "I thought you were smarter than that."

"I guess I'm not." I said back, "If that's not smart then I'm _incredibly_ stupid."

"And now you'll pay for your stupidity." Terra said. I could feel the anger welling up inside of her and how it was increasing her strength, but throwing her focus off slightly. I didn't know how I could sense that detail but I didn't care.

I had an opening.

"I don't think so." I said with a smirk and reared my hand back. I felt the Force surround me again and penetrate my entire being. The energy it gave me swelled through my body then into my hand. Terra saw what I was doing and attempted to jump out of the way. It didn't work. I immediately threw my hand forward and Terra flew back and slammed into a durasteel wall. She yelped in pain and surprise and fell to the ground, again unmoving. Her other lightsaber fell from her hand and I Force-pulled it to me. It was an exact replica of the one I stole, right down to the emitter. Passing that thought aside, I took the weapon as I ran back to the ship and ran up the ramp, not even glancing backwards.

The engines of the shuttle suddenly flared to life and I walked up to the pilot's seat. Dave looked back at me, "We're up and running. Now what?"

I handed him the extra lightsaber and he looked at me surprised, "Now we get the heck out of here." I replied and he jumped into the co-pilot's seat.

I took a seat in the pilot's seat and silently resaid the controls for the shuttle in my mind. After I was done, I cast a glance to Glenn, "Ben, pull the ramp up. The orange button on the side of the wall panel."

He did just that and the ramp slowly slid up. After it gave a pressurized squeal, letting me know that it was in, I deactivated the landing gear and we hovered in the air.

I held my breath for a moment before sighing out loud.

"What's the matter?" Ali said from her seat.

"Just waiting for the right moment." I said and smiled as three TIE fighters passed by the shield entrance. I took the controls and the ship flew forward. We soared out of the hanger and into the empty space between the Stardestroyer and the stars. I flipped a switch near the landing gear the engines of the shuttle purred, then growled.

"Hyperdrive's ready." I heard Ben say. I hadn't noticed he was monitoring the engines.

"Right." I said and opened the coordinate computer log. There were several random numbers in there that pointed to many random planets. I could only make out a few of the coordinates, but I knew which one I should go to. I hit the one that said K-14. It was Hoth and it was as good as any familiar place to start.

Dave looked on the dashboard suddenly and frowned, "James, three TIEs coming in fast."

I nodded and swerved the ship downward, almost losing my stomach in the process, then made a straight cut forward after a few seconds of a downward spiral. That would confuse the TIEs just long enough for me to hit the hyperdrive switch.

"Hold on to your stomachs!" I said backwards, "Cause' we're about to go really fast!"

I hit the switch and the stars became blurry and distorted against the glare of the viewport. It suddenly felt as if I was getting pulled forward, then, as if it was only a spike, it stopped, but we were in hyperspace. I sighed in content and turned to Dave, "We're safe."

He nodded, but countered with a question, "What did you put into the computer?"

"I put in K-14. It's the coordinates for Hoth." I said.

"Why Hoth?" Dave said, appalled, "The only thing there is ice and snow, no spaceports like on Tatooine."

I laughed lightly, "Dave, don't you remember _Episode V?_ I'm think we're in it."

"We're in _Episode V_? How can you tell?" Dave asked, surprise in his voice.

I shrugged, "Just got a feeling. But, even if we're not, I'll just put in the coordinates for Tatooine and we'll find a spaceport."

Dave stared at me for a minute, "Why are you so calm about this? Why aren't you, you know, freaking out?"

I looked at him. Why wasn't I freaking out? I had good cause to. "I don't know" I admitted, "I just don't need to."

"You used the _Force_ for God's sake!" Dave said, his voice cracking, "Doesn't that freak you out a little?"

I nodded, "Kinda, but I have to think of it positively. Yes, I have the Force now! Does that cause for happiness? I think it does."

"He's got a point." Ali said with a smile. I looked back and gave an appreciative smile back.

Today was already long, but exciting, and I had a feeling that this was only the beginning.


	3. Chapter III: The Alliance

**C** **hapter** **III** **: The Alliance**

 ** _"We are the ones..." Three Days Grace-One-X._**

"We're coming up on Hoth." I said as we dropped out of hyperspace. The vastness of the stars was still there, but no longer was distorted and there was a large blue-white planet in front of us.

Ben looked over, "Looks cold."

"It is." I said back to him, "The temperatures can easily get below freezing and can kill a Tauntaun in about thirty minutes. So, yeah, it's pretty frickin' cold."

Ben leaned back in his chair, "Ah."

Dave pushed the scanner button, "I'm not getting any readings from down there."

"It's because the rebels have a cloaking device. How else would they've hid on the planet for so long?" I asked with a scoff.

Dave nodded, "I thought maybe the snow storms on the planet would disrupt any visual and life scans that the Empire might have."

"That would be, but" I cleared my throat, "if the Empire did a visual scan they could've detected the shield generator really fast. The rebels would've been rooted from Hoth within a year."

"Oh," Dave made a noise and turned back to the scanner, "So, what should we do?"

"Well," I thought this over before speaking again, "the Alliance made a base near the equator on the northern half of the planet. So, maybe we should try the comm. codes and see if we can find any encrypted ones. Then, we can trace the sound waves back to the original host."

Dave looked at me wide eyed, "If it's just that then why haven't the Imperials found them?"

I shrugged, "Don't know, but you never know what will happen next. Okay, run through the frequencies."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ali asked.

I turned to her and smiled, "Yeah, I do. This is my element and I'm a beast in this part of the galaxy."

Ali cocked an eyebrow, "Okay..."

I turned back to Dave as he muttered an "Ah, ha!"

"What's the reading, Dave?"

He smiled, "I found an encrypted frequency!"

"Good" I said, "Where are the sound waves pointing?"

Dave took a minute as he pinpointed the sound wave's location. He turned a few nobs and clicked a few switches before four dots appeared on the scanner. Soon one of the blips blinked out, then another, then another. Now there was only one dot blinking.

"Got it!" Dave almost shouted, "There," He pointed to the coordinates, "found them."

I stared at the coordinates and took the controls. We sped off toward the Alliance's base.

* * *

As we finally neared the signal, all I saw was snow and ice. Then I realized the generators off in the distance, hidden slightly by the mountains. I frowned to myself as I couldn't remember where the actual base was. And the coordinates pointed here so something drew the ship there.

"Where's the base?" Ali asked, looking out the viewport and frowning.

I continued to look, "I'm trying to figure that out myself."

Suddenly, I looked down and saw two figures in the snow. One was covered in snow gear and had goggles on his face and the other was just a brown blur. I pulled over about fifty feet away from them and set the ship down. The two figures moved immediately and used the snow for cover. Who they were slipped my mind at the time.

As the ship finally touched down, I jumped from my seat and to the ramp. I was about to push the button when a hand came crashing down on my shoulder. It was Dave.

"Are you going out there?" He asked.

"Yeah." I replied, "I want to figure out where we are exactly."

"And asking two strangers in the middle of a blizzard. They could be secret Imperials for all we know." Dave said strongly. I could sense his distrust immediately.

I frowned at him and he released my shoulder, "Calm down, I'd be able to sense if they were Imps. No, they're something else, but I can't put my finger on it."

Dave took his lightsaber in his hand, "Well, if they give us trouble I've got this."

I nodded, "Yeah, but only if they strike _first_. Got it?"

Dave frowned, "I understand that since you've unlocked your power that you think you're in complete charge, but you're not."

I looked him in the eye, "I'm the only one here with the most knowledge, Dave. So, I _am_ in charge."

"Don't let it go to your head." He said warningly.

I scoffed, "Hey, it's _me_."

"Good point."

I turned and opened the hatch to see the two individuals at the foot of the ramp. We were blasted with a rush of cold, freezing air that sent chills down my spine. The guy with the gear didn't look any more familiar, but the furry brown creature did. It was a Wookiee.

"Chewbacca!" I said aloud and the Wookiee turned its head sideways as if saying [Who are you and how did you know my name?]

The guy with the snow gear and Chewbacca walked into the shuttle and hit the closing button. The man took off his gear on his head and I realized who it was. It was Han Solo.

"I was expecting Stormtroopers rather than children." Han muttered loudly.

I shrugged, "Well, we were expecting a rebel base right here so I guess we were both wrong."

Han suddenly had his blaster aimed at me so fast I was starting to think he actually did _shoot first_. My hand went instinctively to my side, but I retracted it half a second later. There wasn't any need for attack. But I did have to explain some things in order to not get shot.

"Whoa!" I said, surprised, "Uh, no need to shoot us."

"You said something about a rebel base. Why would you think that?" Han asked. Chewbacca roared in what I guess was the same question.

"Well," I said with a higher voice, "You've got your gun pointed at me, so, I'm guessing that there _i_ s a hidden rebel base here, right?"

Han sighed and holstered his weapon, "Well, kid, it seems you're smarter than you look."

I frowned and Chewbacca growled softly. My Ryriwook was a little rough, but I think he said [We might want to take him back to the base.]

"Yeah, Chewie, good idea." Han said, then switched to a slightly sarcastic tone, "Her royal highness will want to know about them."

"Royal highness?" Dave said aloud, "Who's that?"

I nudged him, "Shush."

Han activated his wrist comm., "Your highness...yes, it was a probe droid...no...no, I've actually found something else. I've found three kids out here in an Imperial shuttle where the probe was...no, I don't know if it's that...yes, I'm taking them to the base in the shuttle. Solo out."

I smiled at Han, "Well, it looks like we _are_ coming with you to the base."

"Yeah, but..." Han nudged Chewbacca, who growled lightly, but walked over to me. Suddenly, his heavy paw swatted my head and my vision became black.

* * *

I felt consciousness start to come back to me and I blinked rapidly, adjusting to the now very different lighting. All I remembered was talking to Han and Chewbacca and Chewbacca came over and... _Knocked me out._ I thought, my head throbbing slightly. That Wookiee had one hell of a punch.

I tried to get a look around and I saw different things. There was a bacta tank in the corner of the room and there was several high tech medical equipment around the room and I was lying on a bed. I pushed myself up and, with a grunt, popped my knuckles. It was something I did to resolve my nerves.

"Okay." I said to myself quietly, "I must be in the base...but where are the others?"

Remembering my new connection to the Force, I reached into myself and then expanded it to the surrounding area, getting a sense on whatever was near my room. I found several unidentifiable life forms, but only about three did I recognize. It was Dave, Ben, and Ali.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I froze. I looked at my legs and they weren't covered by the jeans I had on before I was knocked out. I let out a nervous chirp and put my legs back on the bed. _They must've changed me to check me for weapons. Crap that means they found our lightsabers. This is going to be fun to explain. Think..._

I sat there, thinking about how I could explain it and, within a minute of thinking, the door to the room slid open and a pretty woman, about twenty-two, with short brown hair tied up into braids on her head, came in. It was a spitting image of a young Carrie Fisher.

"Hi there." She said pleasantly. I smiled back, "Uh, hi."

The woman was about five foot or five foot one, but she was short. Even from me sitting in the bed, I could tell she was tiny compared to me.

"I apologize for the precautions we had to take." She said after a pause.

I cradled my head slightly in my left hand, "You mean the Wookiee slap upside the head?"

"Yes, I'm very sorry for that." The woman said, then paused, then smiled and extended her hand, "My name is Leia Organa."

I smiled and shook the hand, "It's nice to meet you, Leia. My name is..." I paused for half a second, "...Blaze Marko."

Leia gave a warm smile and sat on the end of the bed, "It's nice to meet you, Blaze. Can you tell me a few things?"

"Depends on what the questions are." I said respectfully.

Leia gave a satisfactory smile, "You're careful, I respect that. I just need to ask you a few questions as to why you were in the blizzard and who you are."

"Fire away then." I said and leaned back against the pillows.

"How old are you?" Leia asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Sixteen."

"How tall are you?"

"Just about five foot ten."

"How did you come to be in that Imperial shuttle?"

I paused for a minute, "Me and my friends were captured by a few Imperials somewhere in the...Rishi Maze and we escaped."

"By yourself?" Leia asked. I inwardly deduced the facts of her questions and came to the conclusion that she was an excellent deducer. She was using simple questions in an almost constant pattern and using a soft, gentle voice to make me feel safe. But, after all that had happened, I doubt I could feel really _safe_ at the moment. However, her technique was very smart. And it should've been, she was, after all, Princess Leia.

"Like I said, it was me and my other friends you have somewhere else in this place." I said, "We were able to fool some of the Stormtroopers and took advantage of his position and made it to a shuttle."

"How did you know how to pilot the shuttle?" Leia asked.

I stopped, thinking this one over, "Practice. Lots of practice with different types of craft."

"Oh." Leia said, paused again, then spoke, "I would like to apologize for the need to remove your clothes."

My cheeks suddenly got warm, but I spoke anyway, "I...I understand. Just safety, right?"

"Right. Which brings me to another question: why did we find this..." She held up my lightsaber, "…with your stuff?"

I swallowed, "You see, that's the hard thing to explain."

Leia nodded, "I bet it is. The whole Force thing isn't really my expertise. Talking to people one on one, or even a large group of people, is my specialty. It's why I was once the Senator of Alderaan."

I nodded. I looked over to the side-table and picked up a glass that contained a clear liquid. After taking a sip, I found it was pure water. I drank the whole glass and turned to Leia, "Anything else you want to ask me?"

Leia nodded, "Just a few more questions."

"Okay."

"Are your other three friends armed like you were?" She asked.

I cocked an eyebrow, "You didn't search them yet?"

"No, I suspected that you were the...well, the leader of the group so you were searched and the others were sedated. They won't wake for hours."

"Well, at least they're not hurt." I said with a happy sigh, "Only my friend with the glasses is armed and he has a lightsaber too."

"Luke has one of those." She said more to herself then to me. She realized what she said and cracked a smile, "I'm sorry. I was just saying something about someone here."

I nodded, knowing exactly just who she was talking about. Suddenly, the door opened up again and a man walked in. It wasn't Han. No, this man had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. It was Luke Skywalker. And, God, it was like staring at Mark Hamill. In a way, I was excited, but freaked out at the same time.

"Oh, look, it's Luke now." Leia said smiled and stood up to greet the man. I laughed inwardly at how they didn't know that they were siblings yet.

"Hey Leia." His voice was soft, "Can I speak to the boy alone?"

Leia nodded, "Sure." She kissed his cheek and left.

I felt myself try to gag and I turned it into a cough. They really _needed_ to know that they were siblings. That was just disgusting!

Luke sat in a chair on the other side of the room and just stared at me for a minute before speaking, "Who exactly are you?"

I smiled, "My name is Blaze Marko."

"Blaze Marko." Luke echoed, "Nice name."

"Thanks." I said and then shrugged dismissively, "Anything you want to ask me?"

"Just one question." Luke said, "Why can I feel you so strongly in the Force?"

He was good. "Well," I started, "all I can say is that I can control the Force pretty well."

Luke nodded and picked up my lightsaber off of the table beside him where Leia had put it. "And this?"

"It's kinda hard to explain." I admitted. My heart stopped when he activated the crimson blade. His eyes widened and he was up in an instant.

I held my hands up, "Hey, I know what that looks like, but the lightsaber's technically not even mine. I stole it from a Sith on a Stardestroyer."

"A Sith?" Luke asked, incredulous as he deactivated the lightsaber, "You defeated a Sith?"

"Well, more like Sith adept student. She wasn't as strong in the Force as my pure powers ran and I overpowered her with my own power and stole her lightsaber." I said.

Luke looked at me skeptical. I knew he couldn't necessarily feel me out in the Force because he didn't have a firm grip on the Force, but he was getting there.

"So, how do you know what Sith are?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

Luke was silent for a minute, "My old teacher, Ben, taught me about them before he died. How do _you_ know what Sith are? You seem a little young."

"Growing up, my father taught me about the Jedi and the Sith." I replied. It _was_ true. Ever since I was little, my father had taught me about _Star Wars_ and who were the good guys and who were the back guys.

"Where are your parents now?" Luke asked.

I frowned, "Gone." I said sadly. They were still on Earth while I was here on Hoth. They probably had no idea where I was and were freaking out.

"I'm sorry." Luke said softly.

"It's fine." I turned to face him again, "I just...I just need to know why I'm here."

"Maybe it was the will of the Force." Luke suggested.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Because Ben told me you were coming." Luke said, surprising me, "He told me that I'd find a boy that was incredibly strong with the Force."

That really surprised me. I had no idea that Obi Wan knew of my existence, let alone why and how I came here. Maybe he was the one I needed to contact. But, oh yeah, he was _dead_.

 _Ah man, my favorite Star Wars character is dead! Damn it._

I shrugged slightly and looked around the room, "You have my clothes anywhere?"

Luke nodded with a faint smile, "Yeah, they're are soaked and are put away somewhere so I had some gear transported here from one of the storage houses."

"Thanks." I said. Luke smiled, stopped and walked over to another door. He opened it with a click of a button and pulled out a stack of snow-combat clothes with boots and a utility belt. It was the whole package.

"Here." He said as he gave them to me.

"Thanks again." I said and he nodded. He then held my lightsaber out to me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I thing you're gonna need it." Luke smiled as I took the weapon. I saw the look of trust in his eyes. Luke Skywalker trusted me.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bluish crystal. He held it out to me.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"It's a crystal." He said, "I found it in a cave when I was attacked by a Wampa. Ben told me to hold onto it. I'm guessing it's for you." I then realized the small scratches and scars on his face from the Wampa attack. I reminisced about that attack and no crystal came to mind. I knew then that some things had changed. Hesitantly, I took the crystal.

Luke walked over to the exit, opened the door, stopped abruptly, and turned around, "If you need me, I'm in the communication center down the hall and to the left of the corridors."

"To the left." I echoed, "Got it."

Luke smiled and left, closing the door behind him. I hopped off the bed and cringed slightly as my feet hit the hard floor. It was freezing! I quickly put on my gear.

As I was adjusting the straps on my boots, I realized I still had the blue crystal in my hand. I finished fixing the straps and sat back on the bed, my lightsaber now in my other hand. What exactly was the crystal for?

As if on cue, the crystal started to glow in my hand. However, it wasn't hot, like I was expecting, it was cold. It wasn't the type of cold that made you want to drop it, no, it was the cool, soothing cold that I felt when I was using the Force. I knew right then that the crystal was _meant_ for me.

It was for my lightsaber.

I sat them both down in front of me and stared at them for a minute, thinking on how to put it in.

 ** _Close your eyes…_**

I heard that voice again. It was soft, and feminine. I think it was the Force. I did as it told me and closed my eyes.

 ** _Breathe in deeply…_**

I took a deep breath and the cooling sensation filled me up yet again. I immediately felt relaxed. I felt at peace. I felt safe. There were so many words to describe how I was feeling. But the word safe felt just right. I felt the Force surround me in a giant mass of pure, but unnoticeable to another Force-user, energy.

 ** _Open your eyes…_**

I opened my eyes and looked at the lightsaber on the ground. The blue crystal that was beside it was gone and the lightsaber was hovering off the ground. I reached out and plucked it from the air, a smile spreading over my face. I saw that the ignition button was now near the base of the emitter now rather than near the middle of the lightsaber. I hit the button and a beam of blue-white energy extended to life.

I smiled and shut off the lightsaber, hooking it to my utility belt once I did so. It wasn't a Sith lightsaber anymore. It was a Jedi lightsaber now. _My_ Jedi lightsaber.

Pushing myself up from the ground, I looked to the door. After a minute of deciding, I opened the door with a click and walked out. It was cold in the room, but it was much colder in the hall. The hall was filled with snow and had lamps positioned all throughout it to give light. I walked all the way down the hall and went to the left like Luke said. Suddenly, I saw General Reekan over by the scanner stations and I saw Leia talking with him. Han wasn't there and I vaguely remembered he was in the hanger fixing the _Falcon_.

I walked over to Leia, "Hey Leia."

She jumped slightly and turned to me. She turned and looked into my chest, probably thinking we were the same height. She smiled and looked up at my face, "You scared me, Blaze."

"Sorry." I said and looked at the scanner, "What's that?"

Reekan was an older man, most likely in his mid-fifties. He looked at me, "It's the remains of the probe droid that General Solo destroyed. We're seeing it over a hologram."

"Ah." I said, remembering what was next, "So, you think it was an Imperial probe droid?"

Leia nodded, "It would stand to reason that it was. The probe was sending out Imperial encryption codes."

 _Encryption codes!_ I thought. _That's what I tracked. It wasn't the base, it was the probe droid!_

"The Empire might already know we're here." Reekan said gravely, "We need to start the evacuation protocols."

 _They don't realize that they have a few hours._ I nodded, "That would be smart. You might also want to cut off all transmissions between here and the evacuation fleet."

"Why's that?" Leia asked.

"The Stardestroyer's sensor array can track the movements of the ships before they leave the surface. The ships will be blasted from the sky and any passing battery fire may hit the base." I said and Reekan looked surprised at my knowledge.

"Impressive, Blaze was it? That would be true, but we have the ion cannon set over the East Ridge. We'll disable the Stardestroyer and let the ships pass by without any casualties." He said.

 _Oh yeah, forgot about that. Damn._ I thought, then turned to Leia, "If the Empire _does_ know that we're here, then we'll have to work fast to assemble everything."

"We?" Leia sounded confused.

I nodded, "Yeah, I want to be a part of this. The Empire is pure evil and is run by a darker evil than that and it needs to be stopped. Let me and my friends join."

"But you're so young." An Alliance soldier said from one of the comm. stations.

"I may be young, but you'll see I can pull my own weight and so can my friends." I gave a confident smirk and the soldier sunk back to his comm. station. I had made my point.

"I'm not so sure about this." Leia said uncertainly.

I unclipped my lightsaber, "Remember this? Well, I have the Force and we both know that more people with the Force on your side is better."

Leia's face flashed to one of remembrance. She was probably remembering how much Obi Wan had helped Luke and them onboard the Death Star three years ago. Obi Wan had disabled the tractor beam and faced Vader, buying them enough time to get away and get back to the Alliance's base on Yavin IV.

"He's right." Leia said eventually, a small smile on his face.

Reekan looked at her strangely, "Princess, are you sure about this? They are, after all, just children."

Leia looked at the old man, "You'd be surprised at what children can do. Plus, they have nowhere else to go. Luke told me about their parents."

I nodded, "Thank you, Leia." I said and clipped my lightsaber to the side of my belt. Reekan moved to a comm. device that transmitted all around the base. He spoke of evacuations and ships and precautions and ended with "May the Force be with us."

Reekan turned to me, "You, my boy, will have to evacuate with Princess Leia when the time comes."

"Maybe" I automatically said, "I may evacuate with Luke."

"I don't think he would mind." Leia said nicely. She then took on a pensive look. I was about to ask what the matter was, but she beat me to the punch, "Would you come with me for a moment?"

"Uh, sure." I said and followed her out of the room.

Once we were in the hall, she looked up at me with a strange look, "Why do you want to go with Luke when it's time to evacuate?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is there some special reason that I should know about why you want to go with him." Leia asked, "I'm just trying to find out the facts."

"Well," I started, "He's a Jedi in training and so am I, so I thought I'd go with him."

Leia looked satisfied with that answer, "I just needed to know."

"Don't trust me?" I asked seriously.

Leia shrugged, devoid of emotion, and said, "Can't be too careful."

"And here I thought you trusted me." I said.

"I do, to some degree. I just met you twenty minutes ago, I'm not going to fully trust you just yet." Leia said matter-of-factly.

"Good point." I agreed, "Do a test or something then."

Leia seemed to mull this over, "Fine...I know someone who is really good with this kind of thing."

"Who?" I asked carefully.

There was suddenly a glint in her eyes.

"He's a Jedi too." She said, "He's been a friend of mine for over five years now."

Silently, I went through all of Leia's Jedi friends in my head, but none so prominent came to mind. Leia broke my thoughts as she beckoned me to follow her down the hall. We traveled down several identical halls with doors before we appeared before a massive hanger. In front of me was a large, black and gray ship that was decked out with several assortments of weapons, but I couldn't name the ship.

It eluded me.

"Come on." Leia said as she went to the ramp, which was already open, and walked in. I ran up to the ramp and, still trying to figure out the ship, walked in. The interior was very state-of-the-art and was mostly black and gray and the occasional silver. I heard the whirling around of a droid, but saw none. We walked through another section of the ship before I could hear the indistinct sound of lightsabers clashing against each other.

Leia hit a button on the side of the wall and the black door in front of us flew open. My eyes widened and my lightsaber flew into my hand. There was a gray hooded figure with a blue lightsaber fighting a Shadowguard. The Gray hooded figure turned slightly to me and I felt his presence feel out mine for a moment. Apparently, that moment was enough for the Shadowguard and he kicked the gray hooded guy in the chest and sent him flying.

I jumped in and ignited my blue blade, "Back off!" I shouted.

The Shadowguard seemed confused for a moment, but attacked and brought his lightsaber pike down in a slash. I parried the attack easily and attacked myself. I dropped into Djem So attack form and struck. My blade clashed against his in a flash of sparks. The Shadowguard brought his blade at an angle and disconnected from my blade. With his lightsaber free, he took control of the space between and slashed for my head. I called on the Force and leaned back but stayed on my feet.

The red blade of the lightsaber pike fizzed over my head and he tried to reel back from the failed attempt. It wasn't enough however. I quickly took the hilt of my weapon with both hands and delivered a swift slash to the Shadowguard's chest. The lightsaber pike fell to the ground with a clinking sound and he dropped to his knees.

I stood over him with my blade at his neck. I was breathing heavily by now and was looking into the red visor of the black armored guard. Suddenly, the image of the Shadowguard fizzled out and became a droid. A very familiar droid.

I jumped back and extinguished my blade, "What the heck?"

"What's the matter, kid, never seen a droid before?" A voice asked me.

I turned around in a flash and saw the gray hooded figure above me. He was directly in front of me. The man was at least six feet tall and was at a moderate build. I could already feel the Force pulsating off of him like a tidal wave.

"No, just never seen a holo-droid before." I replied and stood straight, looking into the man's hooded face. I couldn't tell who he was exactly.

The hooded man reached up and pulled his hood down. I almost gasped. In all fairness, it shouldn't have been possible for this to have happened. He was _dead_. He died many years ago. But, here he was, alive as can be and he was training with his holo-droid.

"Hello, Blaze Marko." The man suddenly said and extend his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I stared at the hand for a minute before shaking it back, "It's an honor to meet you, Galen Marek."

* * *

 **The Apprentice Lives!**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter IV: Preparation

**C** **hapter** **IV** **: Preparation**

 ** _"The worst is; the waiting; in this womb I'm suffocating!" Skillet-Rebirthing._**

After shaking Galen's hand, he led us into another part of the ship, which turned out to be the _Rouge Shadow_ , with a circular table and a booth that surrounded it. Over to the side, I could see the star-charts and holoprojectors set up, but the thing that most interested me was the various elements of lightsaber crystals set up over on a workbench the corner adjacent to the star-charts. I could see a red crystal, a yellow crystal, and a green crystal. Were they all crystals that Galen had gotten on his journey as a Jedi and Vader's slave? Most likely.

The room itself was lit by several lights that were implanted into the ceiling. For a moment, I thought they would fall out, but they stayed where they were. The room was huge too. You could set up multiple facilitative equipment, if there was ever a need to do that.

I sat on one end of the booth and Galen on the other. Leia had gone by the request of Galen, saying he wanted to talk to me alone.

"I can feel your uneasiness from over here." Galen said with a smirk.

"Well," I cleared my throat, "it's not every day you meet the founder of the Alliance."

"So, you know about me?" Galen asked, surprised.

"Only a little." I lied. It's not like I was gonna tell him everything I knew.

Galen leaned back slightly, "So, what do you know of me? There're rumors that spread throughout the galaxy and some are very farfetched, and if you're going to be part of this rebellion, you'll need to know the full story."

"Does everybody in the Alliance know the full story?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Galen chuckled, "No, but, not everybody can handle the whole story. I can sense that you can. So, tell me what you know."

I chose my next words carefully, "I know that you're a Jedi for starters. You, Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Garm Bel Iblis, and Jedi Master Rahm Kota established an official declaration of rebellion on Correlia a few years ago. I know you fought and defeated Vader and you fought the Emperor and defeated him too, but I thought you had died in that battle."

"Almost." Galen said, then raised a hand to his chin, "I'm impressed you know so much about me and what I've done. Though, I'm having a tough time trying to figure out how much you knew and how close you were to the whole story." His tone had changed to a slightly suspicious one.

"Some rumors are true, huh?" I laughed lightly, "Maybe the one I heard really _was_ true."

Galen abruptly leaned forward and looked me in the eyes, "Where are you from?"

 _Crap, crap, crap…_ I felt a trickled of sweat on my forehead, "I'm from..." I paused for a moment, "Bespin. Cloud City to be more precise."

I suddenly felt a large, heavy presence engulf mine. It was Galen's, I realized as he closed his own eyes. I pushed the feeling of a lie deep down in my heart and locked it away. The guilt I was starting to feel suddenly was lifted, but Galen's presence didn't.

As he opened his eyes, I felt a twinge of regret fill my system. But, it was necessary for the greater good. They didn't need to know what I knew. And, who knew, maybe that's why I was here. To change the future.

"Cloud City, huh?" Galen said, a gentleness filling his voice, "Been there once myself. Large city."

I nodded, "Very large. The administrator of Cloud City changed positions a few years ago and it's now Lando Calrissian. Good guy in the long run, but a little shady on some other things."

"But, can he be trusted?" Galen inquired.

I shrugged, "If we do have to trust him, then we do it, but we can sense deceit. Let's just hope we don't have to." I said, then smiled, "So, you didn't die?"

Galen shook his head, as if remembering something, "No, I almost did though. I went into a state of comatose for six months before I escaped Vader."

I was genuinely surprised. Maybe our presences here had more of an impact than I first thought. But that brought up another question. If Galen Marek had survived the lightning blast in the observation hub on the Death Star, what else had changed?

"Anything else you forgot to mention?" Galen suddenly asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

I thought for a moment, "Nah, nothing comes to mind."

Suddenly, a bright, kind presence entered my mind. It wasn't anybody I knew, though. It wasn't even Leia or Luke. It was completely alien to me. I could feel the emotions bubbling underneath the surface of the presence I felt. I felt determination, pride, and love. Real love. This emotion made my head throb slightly, but not the same throb that had happened onboard the _Torrent_. No, this was an overwhelming throb.

Galen tilted his head, "Are you ok?"

I looked to him, "I'm fine."

Galen nodded, before looking to the door to the room we were in and called out, "I know you're there, Juno. Come on in."

The door swished open and in walked a young, blonde haired woman. Galen stood up and walked over to her. He was about six foot even and she was about five ten. She was the same height as me.

I took notice of her apparel. She was wearing a black pilot jumpsuit with a gray tank top under it. Her vest was zipped down slightly, allowing her tank top to be seen but also give more maneuverability on the field of duty. Her blonde hair was only about shoulder length and was pulled back into a pony-tail. Another thing I noticed was her eyes. They were a shining blue that seemed to even contrast the vastness of the seas. It was truly interesting.

After a few exchanges of words, she walked over to me. I stood up in politeness as she made it to me.

She held her hand out, "Captain Juno Eclipse, pleased to meet you."

 _Holy crap…_ I shook her hand gently, "Blaze Marko, pleased to meet you too."

"Juno, can you check the Rogue's scanners for any incoming fleets." Galen said abruptly.

Startled slightly, I looked to him, "An attack? So soon?"

"Just got a feeling." Galen muttered underneath his breath and readjusted his lightsaber on pure anxiety.

I then got the same, dread-like feeling, "Oh, I feel it too. Sometimes this Force thing can get annoying."

Galen apparently didn't hear me and moved to where Juno was at the holoprojector, "What's going on Juno?"

Juno's face was unreadable, "Scanners detect a single Stardestroyer in lightspeed coming toward our location."

"Estimated time for arrival?" I asked, walking over to the holoprojector and staring at the Stardestroyer. I silently cursed. It was the _Avenger_.

Juno clicked a button and a time in basic started winding down, "Roughly forty-three minutes."

"Crap." I said aloud, "That's not good."

 _I thought we'd have more time than this! I hope the others wake up really soon or this is going to get complicated._ I thought, startled by the amount of time and the situation at hand.

My first real battle was approaching fast.

"No. It's not." Galen echoed my spoken comment. His emotions were cut off and he looked at an impasse.

I turned back to the Stardestroyer. It really was the _Avenger_. That meant that Vader was coming. I knew he was coming, but after really seeing that he was coming I knew the danger.

"We need to assemble the strike forces." Galen said, "The attack force that Stardestroyer is bringing will be strong and will strike hard."

At this point, I knew the timeline had changed. I'd have to explain some things later, but it didn't matter at this point, "AT-ATs." I said.

"What?" Juno looked at me. Galen did too, but his face held astonishment.

"You can sense that?" He asked.

 _Okay, maybe I won't have to explain things._ "Yeah," I said and closed my eyes, pretending to reach out, "Four AT-ATs, seven AT-STs and a whole battalion of 501st troopers. I can sense that General Maximillian Veers is leading the assault."

Galen nodded, "Even though we know what they're bringing to the table, we are still going to have to abandon Hoth."

In that single second after he finished his sentence, I felt something twitch in the Force. And it came off of Galen. It wasn't necessarily an emotion, but more like a piece of one. I couldn't tell which one, but my gut was telling me that it had something to do with what I just said.

Juno nodded to him, "Right, the Empire now knows where we've been hiding."

"Where do we go after the battle?" I asked.

Galen shrugged, "I'm not sure, I'll have to meditate on that. I know where Skywalker is going though."

"The Dagobah system." I realized what I said and shut up.

Galen looked at me, a pensive look flashing on his face for a mere second before returning to a non-emotional face, "The Force is strong in you, Blaze, to be able to sense my thoughts."

I relaxed slightly, "You're just easy to read."

Galen let a smile come to his face, "Maybe I'm getting soft."

Juno walked over and kissed his cheek, "I'm fine with that."

Galen laughed, "I know you are, but the Alliance won't be. They need an active leader. Not a leader that stands by and watches what happens. No, I'm a real leader and I'm not going soft, not yet at least."

I turned away from the two and looked back at the _Avenger_. Vader was on that ship. That much I knew, but I was getting something else. Something more elusive than Vader.

 _Terra,_ I realized, _she must be coming with Vader. She's out for revenge on what happened on the Torrent. Crap, that means two Sith this time around. Wonder what's going to happen._ I thought with a smirk. I knew what was going to happen. The Alliance would escape and Vader would fail to get them in the space pursuit that followed.

"We might want to inform Leia about this. We're gonna need the transports ready to go when the fleet gets here." Galen suddenly said, stepping over to the viewport that looked outside to the cold reaches of the base. Right then he looked like an actual official, not the Jedi he was.

I nodded, "Right. Let's go."

Juno nodded back, "I'll prep the Rouge Shadow for launch."

"And I'll run diagnostics on the best routes for the transports to take." said a now fully revealed Proxy. I jumped slightly at his entrance and then calmed myself down within a moment.

"You do that, Proxy. Blaze and I will go alert the princess." Galen said and ran to the door, I followed closely behind as we broke into a sprint. We dashed down the snow covered halls until we reached the command center. Leia was already talking about evacuation and attack. Once she saw us, I knew it was game time. The look on her face was grave and serious. She nodded at Galen and he dashed out of the room. I ran right beside him though, matching each of his strides.

I knew it was going to be one hell of a fight.

* * *

I ran inside the room where Dave, Ali, and Ben were being held in. Dave was groggily getting his bearings back, but Ali was unconscious still and Ben was in a similar state to Dave. I took him by the shoulders and shook him slightly, "Wake up, Dave! It's time to go!"

Dave looked at me, half-drugged half awake, "What? Go where?"

I helped him to his feet, "Out." I replied and checked his side. His lightsaber hung from a belt loop on his hip. I sighed, then helped Ben to his feet. I checked on Ali, but she was completely out.

"What's going on?" Ben asked, still groggy.

I slowly eased Ali into my arms, bridal style, and looked back at him. Before I answered him, however, I took notice on how light Ali was. Maybe the Force gave me more physical strength as well as mental strength, "Imperials will be here in a little less than half an hour. I have to get you and Dave and Ali out of here."

"What about you?" Dave asked, now fully awake.

I looked at him with slightly beleaguered eyes, "I'll be here fighting the good fight. Terra is coming and so is Vader and I need to get you guys away."

Dave scoffed, "What? And let you have all the fun?"

"This isn't the game we played when we were younger, no, this is _real_ and it's dangerous." I said.

"So?" said Dave. "We're in this together. There's no lone wolf shit."

"I'm doing this to protect you." I said to the three, though Ali couldn't hear me, "I know you think that this'll be easy, but I'm telling you this is gonna suck."

"And that's why we need to be here with you, to help you." Ben said.

"Guys, look. I can't explain why you have to leave right now, but I can feel something that's telling me to get you guys the heck out of here as fast as I can." I said, a deep, searing feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Dave sighed and closed his eyes. For the first time, I could feel him reaching out into the Force. There was a sudden shift in the air as he opened his eyes, "He's right." He finally said.

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Dave."

The doors behind us swished open and Galen walked in. Dave's jaw immediately dropped, "Is that who I think it is?"

I nodded quickly, taking great care to hold Ali firmly, and cracked a smile, "Yes, it is. Now let's move."

Galen looked at me, "Give me her. I'll take them to the _Falcon_."

I handed Ali over and nodded, "Thanks, Galen."

"No problem, but don't thank me yet." Galen said gravely, "The battle hasn't even started yet."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're in trouble?" Ben asked hopelessly.

I laughed dryly, "Because we are."

Dave shook his head, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

I chuckled, "You and me both, brother."

* * *

After Galen had escorted Ben, Dave, and Ali to the _Falcon_ , he met with me in the main hanger where Leia was briefing the pilots of the Snowspeeders and X-wings. She spoke just like she did in the movie.

"Two fighters against a Stardestroyer?!" A pilot asked, surprised.

I stepped forward and stood next to Leia, "If you continued to listen, you would've learned that the ion cannon will fire several shots off before you leave the atmosphere of the planet and will give you a straight shot out of here."

"Who's the kid?" Another pilot asked, his voice held a slightly disrespectful tone.

Galen suddenly stepped up beside me and all the pilots' posture straightened at the sight of their leader. It was natural, of course.

"The 'kid' is Jedi Blaze Marko. He's running this attack with me on the ground. He'll be coordinating the ground defenses on defending the base from the Imperials. You're to show him the same amount of respect that you show the princess or myself, understood?" Galen said strictly.

All the pilots answered at the same time, "Yes, sir!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a pilot, older than most, staring at me from his position in the crowd. I reached out slightly and felt him out, only to find that his aura was shrouded. However, that could've been just me adjusting to my new powers, or simply me being paranoid.

"Alright." Leia said, "Good luck and may the Force be with you all."

The pilots dispersed and Leia turned to me, then to Galen, "He clean?"

Galen nodded with a smile, "He's clean. In fact, I haven't felt such a goodness in someone since I met Kota."

"Where _is_ General Kota?" Leia asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, where is Kota? Shouldn't he be here?"

"So you know about Kota too?" Galen said, impressed, "That's impressive. Most wouldn't know about his involvement."

"Like I said, rumors can sometime be true." I said quickly, coming up with it on the fly, and he nodded. It then occurred to me that I was gaining Galen's trust. Yes, he had listened to my story and had most likely bought it, but he was now trusting me. He just stood up for me so that showed something else entirely. Respect? Nah, not yet.

Galen gestured over to a random side, "Kota's somewhere around here. He's most likely setting up a defensive position over on the east entrance."

"How do you know all of that?" I asked.

"Because I spoke to him right before I trained with Proxy, just about the time you came in." said Galen, "He says that the east entrance is a good place to lay down covering fire and to protect the base's more delicate side."

"Ah, well, we'd better get this thing going and fast." I said and looked over to the Snowspeeders, "Are you going to fight in one of those?"

"No, like I said, I'll be running defense with you for the base's protection." Galen said and then turned to the other side of the base, "The base's protection is key to the evacuation of the Alliance."

"Oh, right." I said, then looked off outside the mouth of the base, "How much time is left?" I turned back to Galen.

Galen looked at his wrist-chrono, "About eight minutes before the Imperials drop out of hyperspace and about five before they land on the planet."

"So, we have roughly thirteen minutes." I blew a sigh through my lips, "Crap, that's not a lot of time."

Galen shook his head, "No it's not, so let's make the best of it."

I nodded, "Ok, where do you want me to set up?" I asked, though fully knowing all entry and exit points of the base.

Galen looked pensive, "Well, Kota has the east side held up, and I'll take the west, so you take the North Entrance."

I looked between him and the large entrance in front of me, "You mean the one we're standing in front of?"

Galen nodded, "Yes, the Imperials won't risk a _complete_ frontal assault. They'll divert most of their forces to the front to take out the shield generator, but they'll send other strike forces to the other three entrances to throw us off. Vader is like that."

"Right." I said, "Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Yes," Galen said and pointed to the turrets by the trenches, "the AT-ATs will be coming in hard so be careful."

I gave a mock salute with a smirk on my face, "You got it, General."

Galen gave an amused glance before running out through another row of ice halls. I stood there, perplexed by the complete seriousness of the situation. Then it dawned on me. I was about to go into my first battle. I felt adrenaline start to pump through my veins and I willed it to go down for now. I reached out in the Force and felt out the presences on the _Avenger_.

There was definitely Vader, but I wasn't so sure that the other one was Terra all of a sudden. As I continued to search into who it was, I found that the presence was shrouded. Just like that pilot.

 _Speaking of that pilot…_ I thought to myself as I surveyed the area. As my eyes landed on the pilot in question, I felt my senses go on alert.

"Commander Marko?"

I turned around to see a girl, about the same age as me, decked in her snow gear. It was obvious she'd joined the Alliance recently. The air about her felt new. She was covered in the same type of winter padded clothes. She didn't have her goggle hat on so her shoulder-length brown hair flowed free in the coldness. Her eyes sparkled a light green-blue color as she looked at me. I had to admit, she was attractive.

But, she was strangely familiar.

"Yeah?" I said back and she looked surprised.

"You're Commander Marko?" She asked, "I was thinking I was going to be meeting someone else."

"Someone that would be as old as dirt?" I gave a smirk and she colored.

She nodded, "Yes, sir."

I chuckled, "You don't have to call me 'sir', you know? Just call me Blaze." I held out my hand and smiled, "Oh, yeah, it's Blaze Marko."

The girl looked at my hand and reached out and took it in hers.

Immediately I felt something. As our hands clasped, a jolt of energy flew through me. Images flashed through my mind. I saw a blue lightsaber flashing through a black smoke, then it went off and a red one took its place. There were muffled screams and muffled shots in the distance. Then, as quickly as it came, it disappeared.

"My name is Sonya Starcrest." The girl, now I knew her name as Sonya, introduced herself.

I cast a glance over her shoulder and saw that a long rifle was resting against her back, "A sniper?"

"Yes, sir." She said proudly, "One of the best here if I do say so myself."

"You seem a bit young to be in the Alliance." I said softly just before my senses went alert again. I looked around the room, but found nothing of danger.

Something was going on.

Sonya blushed, "I just turned sixteen a few days ago, but I came into the Alliance three months ago when the Imperials finished ransacking my home on Telos. The Alliance took me in after my parents died."

I immediately felt pity for the girl in front of me. She'd lost her home _and_ her parents in one swift strike from the Empire. There was no mistake that Vader was the one that did that job. The only reason I thought of that Vader would be on Telos would be some information, or a tip, about a Rebel spy on the planet. Considering that's where one hid from him during an earlier stage in the war, Vader probably didn't want something like that to happen again, so he wiped him out, not caring about any of the innocents.

A typical Sith Lord.

"I'm sorry." I said and shifted awkwardly as I stuffed my hands in my pockets, "I don't know what that feels like. I mean, I sorta do. I was separated from my parents recently and I don't know if I'll ever get back to them."

"I'm sorry, sir." Sonya said, her voice calm.

I waved it off, "It's fine. Anyway, are you on the division protecting the North Entrance?"

Sonya nodded and gave a tug at her rifle, "Yes, I am. Me and another sniper will set up by the crates and provide cover for the assault troops joining us."

I sighed, "This is going to be one heck of a battle." I unclipped my lightsaber and twirled the hilt in my hand, "At least I have this."

Sonya's eyes widened and her eyes locked onto my lightsaber, "Y-You're a Jedi?"

I shrugged and clipped the lightsaber back to my belt, "A Jedi in training, but a Jedi nonetheless. And now I just found out I'm a commander not more than twenty minutes ago."

Sonya was speechless, "W-What? When…When did you join the Alliance?"

I hesitated. There were many things at play here and it could make a ruckus, so I played it safe, "A little while ago. I can't say anything else than that."

Sonya colored again, "I'm sorry, sir…I-I…I was just curious. When I was little, my parents taught me that the Jedi were once a semblance of peace and justice till Palpatine came in and destroyed them all. I'm sorry for asking you so many questions…"Her voice trailed off.

"It's fine." I said gently, chuckling a little as I did so.

Sonya shook her head, "No, it's not. I'll get to my post now, sir…" She started to walk away when I reached out and gently caught her shoulder.

Once again, a flood of images popped up into my head. I could see them more clearly now as they flashed before my eyes. I could see orange lighted floors and a deep, metallic cavern with thousands of lights lighting its way down. I could again hear the distinct sounds of yelling and screaming, but now I could make out two of them. One was a girl's voice screaming out. By the sound of it, it sounded like she wanted help. The other was a non-mistakable sound.

It was the metallic breathing of a Sith Lord.

Then another image flashed before my eyes. It was red and white and was searing. I could see it flying through a sea of light blue covered in a combination of crystals. They almost looked like ice.

I suddenly found myself staring into Sonya's blue green eyes, "Wait. Just hold on a second."

Sonya stopped and caught my gaze with something swimming in her eyes.

I frowned and suddenly found my senses going crazy, "Something's wrong." I ran to the mouth of the North Entrance and looked out into the sky. Something was stirring.

Sonya ran up beside me with her rifle in her hands, "What's going on, Blaze?"

I squinted my eyes as I saw something suddenly appear far off in the distance. It was merely a smudge in the distance, but it was driving me crazy. As I focused on it more, the clearer it became. I let out a grunt as I realized what it was.

"Damn it." I muttered under my breath.

"What is it?" Sonya asked quickly.

I stayed quiet for a moment.

"What is it?" Sonya asked again, only with more urgency.

I frowned and looked at her. I sighed, "Time's up. The Empire's here to crash the party."


	5. Chapter V: First Battle

**I don't own the music. Just saying just in case. Purely for entertainment purposes.**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **V** **: First Battle**

 ** _"_** ** _Let's start a riot! A riot!" Three Days Grace-Riot._**

"Did you say the Empire?" Sonya sounded desperate.

I nodded, "Yeah, I did. The Imps are early. We have to get ready now." I turned to her, "Let's go!"

I took off in the direction of the entrance with Sonya tailing right behind me. I could sense her emotions as we ran. I could sense fear but also a bright determination that rumbled deep down inside. I could feel it deep down inside, but something was blocking it.

I refocused on what I was doing and ran into the hangar. There were men and women everywhere, getting things prepped and getting things loaded for battle. I knew that this piece of information would be a big inconvenience for them, but the Imperials were coming and there was nothing to do to stop it.

"Listen up!" I shouted and everybody stopped and looked at me.

Apparently, everybody knew who I was now and was waiting for me to speak. Normally, I was a strong speaker, so something like speaking in front of people wasn't a problem. But, this wasn't a show or a performance. This was the field of battle and the men and women in front of me were waiting to hear what I had to say.

I cleared my throat, "Ok, things have changed! The Empire got here early so we have about five minutes, give or take, before they have their ground forces on the ground! I need you to move your butts now and get to your positions because right now, we don't have a lot of time! GO!"

I shouted with so much authority that I didn't recognize my own voice for a moment. The men and women who made up my division stood there for a moment, before a collective sound of "Yes, sir!" and "Right away, sir!" rang through the hangar and it was thrown into a flurry of motions. Blurs of white, gray, and orange passed by me as they got ready.

A man, about thirty years old, ran up to me, "Gere Maan, sniper, sir."

I nodded and looked to the dozens of men and women running out the entrance and to their positions. Some set up defensive positions behind the turrets and some by the crates for a last resort defensive. The rest disappeared into the snow as they turned the hill and ran to the forward defense in the trenches. They were as decked out in fire power as ever.

I looked to Maan, "You and Sonya need to set up where I tell you, got it?"

Both Maan and Sonya nodded and I ran to the entrance. We ran to a pile of crates with sniper posts on them over by a wall of snow. From that position, they could take out anybody over by where the walkers were going to be. It was an ideal place for a surprise attack.

"Over here!" I said as I glanced to the sky and saw the transports holding the AT-ATs coming in hot. They would land over to where they did in the movie and it would be a little while, maybe ten minutes, before they were in firing range of the shield generator. Not only that, but they would be in range to drop more of their more precious 501st troops. I already knew that they would be coming but watching as it was happening was something different altogether.

I turned to Maan, "Set up on one and Sonya will set up on the other."

Maan set up his rifle on the left crate and Sonya on the right crate. There was the rhythmic double click as both of their weapons were loaded with a plasma cartridge. Maan immediately looked through his scope, but Sonya looked at me.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Sonya whispered.

I walked over to Sonya, "Yeah, it is." I pointed over to where the trenches were, "I'll be over there and my guess is that it's gonna get bombarded pretty hard, so I could use some cover."

Sonya nodded, then immediately looked through her scope. There was a second of emotion that I felt through the Force and I saw it was coming from Sonya.

"Sonya?"

Sonya looked up from her scope, "Yes, sir?"

I wanted to frown at the word 'sir' but I kept a small smile, "What's the matter?"

"Why would you ask that?" Sonya raised an eyebrow at me. I could feel her surprise despite her outward appearance.

I tapped my head, "I can feel your emotions in here. What's up?"

Sonya shifted uncomfortably, "Nothing, sir."

I cracked a smile, "Now, now, don't lie to me, Sonya."

Sonya colored, "Okay, well…I just feel something…in my heart."

"About the battle?" I asked.

Sonya shrugged, "Yes…and no. It has something to do with the battle, but also with someone."

"Well, who is it? Somebody important?" I asked gently, "Someone you care about that is going on the battlefield? I mean, that could cause for your emotions being how they are."

"Yeah, he's someone I know. I actually met him recently, but I feel something about him that's different than what I've ever felt." Sonya nearly whispered and she gently clutched my forearm.

I felt my face warm when I realized who she was talking about.

It was _me._

There was a rumble and I looked off into the distance. The Imperial transports had just landed and it was going to turn into a war zone in a moment. I clenched my fist, but loosened it as I looked back at Sonya. Her eyes were desperate and I could tell she was struggling to tell me something.

Sonya met my gaze completely, "Just, survive, sir."

I nodded, "I will. You too."

As I turned to leave, Sonya tightened her grip on my coat and I turned back around. She suddenly let her rifle go and wrapped her arms around me. I returned the hug, somewhat awkwardly though.

"Good luck, Blaze." She whispered and went back to her rifle.

I stared at her for a moment before I responded, "Thanks. Good luck to you guys too."

After that, I dashed on the snow toward the trenches, all the while my focuses completely centered on Vader. The attack was proceeding just as it had before and I could already see the large forms of the AT-ATs coming closer by the moment. As I reached the trenches, a soldier ran up to me.

"Sir, we've got walkers incoming!"

I nodded, "I know."

I reached deep into my mind and pulled out the walker's weak spot. Back home, specific cases would allow me to gain this knowledge and I smirked as I thought of the good it was going to do, "Tell the turrets to aim for the viewports and the neck!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier gave a salute.

For a few minutes, it was just that: tactical plans and battle strategies. The men and women spoke to me like I was an official, which made me want to smile. Everything I was doing was improving the chances of more of them surviving.

 _"_ _Blaze are you there? Blaze, do you copy?"_ I heard my comm. link go off. It was Luke.

I hit the button on my wrist, "Luke, is that you?"

 _"_ _Yeah, it's me. Just came to tell you that we'll be coming in for our run in a minute so be careful."_ Luke said.

"Okay, but Luke, aim for the viewports and the neck or use your tow cables and make them fall." I said.

 _"_ _Will do. Thanks, Blaze."_ Luke thanked and cut the line.

"Sir, we've got enemy troops coming in!" I heard a woman shout as she shot off from her blaster rifle.

I unclipped my lightsaber and ducked down, "All turrets, focus on the walkers! Soldiers, time to go!"

I thumbed the lightsaber to life and the blue blade flashed to life. I pulled the hood of my snow suit over my head with my other hand and felt adrenaline rush through me. It was overwhelming now.

Then the cool sensation of the Force filled me.

Shots suddenly ran through the area as the battle begun.

I ran out and watched as my men flanked me on different sides in different positions. I looked ahead at the huge, metal contraptions of terror, known as AT-ATs, stomped forward, making chunks of ice and snow fly. Suddenly, the bottom hatch of the walker's underbelly opened and cables came down with Snowtroopers attached to them.

The 501st was here.

The AT-ATs weren't focused on us and they fired ahead as I heard a rumbling screech pierce the icy air. I looked up to see Snowspeeders fly across the air. They fired off multiple shots at the walkers, but the blaster bolts just reflected off their armor. For a moment, I thought that they'd beaten one as a blast completely struck the viewport of the one covering the rear, but as the smoke cleared it seemed that it was undamaged.

 _You've got to be kidding me! The viewports are shielded!_ I thought as I cringed. _Damn it. That thought must have not crossed my mind till now. I have to tell Luke._

I pulled up my wrist comm. link as we continued to march forward in the snow and towards the troopers and walkers, "Luke, their armor's too strong for blasters. The viewports are shielded. Go for the legs! Wrap em' up!"

 _"_ _Thanks for the advice Blaze!"_ Luke's grateful voice echoed through the line. It was only about twenty seconds later that I heard his voice again. He seemed to not notice that the line was still active, _"Dak! Dak!"_

 _Aw man! I thought Dak would survive this time around._ I thought sadly as a red blaster bolt whizzed past my head. I pulled up my blue blade and deflected the next shot at a trooper and he fell into the snow, a dark, smoking hole in his chest. A moment of guilt struck me as I took his life, but I remembered that there was no escaping it.

But, nonetheless, it was still a life that I took.

I pulled myself out of my stupor as more Snowtroopers stormed us. There was a group of four heading my way when, all of a sudden, two green bolts of energy flashed through the sky and struck two of them in the head. The other two, seeing their comrades' deaths, stopped and looked back. That was enough time for me to run up and slash both across the chest and they fell to the ground, leaving this world.

I looked back and smiled. _I owe Sonya and Gere one._

I turned back around as I saw one of my men fall to the ground as a red blaster bolt struck him in the chest. It was a precise strike to the heart, no doubt. The poor man had no chance. He was probably dead before he hit the ground.

More Snowtroopers came and I charged with my men. Holding my blade firmly in my hands, I deflected the oncoming onslaught of blaster fire and plunged my lightsaber into one's chest. Another of the troops heading for me was struck by another bolt of green energy, giving me a chance to pull my blade out and deflect another shot back at a sniper setting up not far away. It was a one-in-a-million deflecting shot, but I pulled it off.

 _Gotta put that in the scrapbook._ I mentally joked to myself.

Suddenly, a crash made me stop for a moment and I looked over to the side. One of the AT-AT walkers had a black cable wire wrapped around its legs as it lay motionless on the ground. I let out a shout of glee once I saw Hobby's fighter come in for the kill.

 _Come on! Hit the viewport!_ I thought, just before two large, red beams of energy burst forth from the Snowspeeder's cannons and flew into the bridge of the walkers. Within a few seconds, there was a massive explosion and the walker was then nothing but smoldering parts all along the ground.

"Yeah!" I heard an Alliance soldier shout as he saw the blast. He immediately tore himself from the sight and shot another Snowtrooper coming in his direction.

I held my lightsaber up and swung the blue-white blade in an arc, deflecting three blaster bolts at once. Two of the shots bounce harmlessly off the snow in a flash while the last one flew through the sky. At that exact moment, a Snowtrooper on a speeder bike was riding past at top speed, when the blast went through his head like a knife through butter. He had no chance to dodge.

The speeder eventually slowed to a stop as its rider fell off and tumbled into a heap in the snow.

At that moment, another crash hit my ears and I pulled up my comm. link again as Luke's desperate voice came through. There was static and I could hear electrical systems start to fuzz and shock in his cockpit. He'd been hit, _"Hobby! I've been hit!"_

I grimaced as I watched Luke's speeder fly into the snow, right in front of the back walker's walking path. Luke was a good half a mile away from me as I jumped forward, dodging a large blast from the lead walker. A thought occurred to me in that moment: If I captured Veers, then he could become a great source of information for the Alliance.

Summoning all the strength in the Force that I had, I leaped high into the air and landed on the back of the lead walker. I stumbled slightly and almost lost my grip on my lightsaber. I suddenly tumbled backwards as the AT-AT launched a large blast at the shield generator and…

 _He missed it!_ I nearly said out loud as my eyes widened. There was a large explosion from the maximum firepower of the blast and a large crater appeared only a few meters to the side of the generator. At that moment, I knew two things: One, my presence here changed the direction of that blast, and two, this was my chance to get Veers.

With my lightsaber gripped tightly in my right hand, I leaped forward and landed on the AT-AT's neck. The neck was plated with metal, but also a soft insulation of easy transition. Something that could be easily cut. I held my blue blade over my head and plunged it into the walker's neck, burning straight through the outer surface and into the vacant part. With a swift move of my hand, the right side of the neck was cut off and it started to tilt to the left as the weight was unbalanced.

There was no way he could take that shot now.

Then he _did_ take the shot.

The blast of yellow energy, a sure sign of maximum power, soared through the air with a piercing scream and struck the generator with full on precision. It was only as second before it was reduced to ash.

"No!" I shouted in vain before I sliced off the remaining part of the neck and the head of the AT-AT fell into the snow. The body of the walker suddenly started to spark and explode and it toppled into the snow along with the legs and turrets mounted on them. I leaped the second before it exploded and landed in the snow.

I looked up, sputtering and coughing because my mask flew off and my mouth and throat were clogged with snow. As I wiped my eyes of the cold substance, I saw a white figure standing over me. It was only a second later I found myself starring into the small barrel of a side-arm pistol. It was a Scout trooper.

There was an obvious chuckled coming from him as his finger tightened on the trigger, "Rebel scum."

 _Oh, son of a…_

Suddenly, there was a figure dressed in gray behind him. In an instant, a blue blade, matching my own color, imbedded itself into the clone's stomach through his back. A stench filled the air I felt the urge to back up. It was the stench of burning flesh. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

I looked back up and saw a hand reaching out to me. I took the hand and found myself looking at Galen Marek.

"Galen!" I said, shocked, "What about your entrance?"

Galen nodded, "The tunnel was sealed off and my team made it to their transports. The first and second transports are away and the _Rogue Shadow_ is over the ridge waiting for us."

"What about Veers?" I asked, motioning over to the head of the walker lying in the snow.

Galen frowned, "He wasn't in there. Somehow, he managed to give us the slip between now and the mid-point of the battle."

 _What? But he was in there the first time around! Stupid messed up timeline._ I shouted in my head and looked over to the other walker shooting members of random squads. I looked over and saw the walker shoot two in the back, while completely obliterating another to dust. I noticed that some of them were my squad, but most of my squad was gone. They'd escaped.

"Sonya." I said automatically.

"Sonya?" Galen asked.

I nodded, looking over to where they were set up and saw the multitude of Snowtroopers running in that direction. I then noticed the two beams of green energy firing away until only one was firing.

"Aw, crap!" I turned to Galen, "One of my snipers is left behind! We've got to do something!"

Galen looked over and nodded. He turned to his wrist comm. link, "Juno, get over here. Fast!"

A thought then occurred to me, "What about Luke?"

Galen looked over to the side and I saw the distinct forms of X-wings in the background. Luke was most likely over there. That was where he went the first time around, so it would stand to reason that he would return back to there. There was no chance I was going with him.

"He's getting out of here. He's already made it to his ship." Galen said before he looked up and saw the ramp of the _Rogue Shadow_ just above his head. He grabbed my arm and leaped upward onto the ramp.

"Ah!" I gave a shout as I was lifted into the air and placed on the ramp. After recovering and leveling my heart rate down, I called out to the pilot, "Juno, keep the ramp open!"

Galen looked back there too, "Get us as close as you can to the entrance of the base, near a few boxes with a sniper on it!"

Juno nodded and flew the ship through the air. I held onto the support hydraulics for the ramp as she sped through the air, the icy wind invading the entire ship. I was already cold and was shivering, but the wind was nothing different from what I'd already experienced.

"Got it!" Juno shouted and I found myself looking down at the sniper posts. There was one person standing and it was Sonya. She was firing off shot after shot, till her rifle suddenly stopped. She was out of ammo. She was dodging blasts left and right and I could see a force of twenty troopers or more marching through the snow.

They were coming for her.

 _Not on my watch you lab rats!_ I thought as I leaped out of the ship. I did a tuck and roll as I ignited my recently deactivated lightsaber and sliced a clone in half. His teammates took a second to respond, but by then I'd already moved too fast for them and cut down three of the closest troops to the sniper position.

I jumped backwards and started deflecting blasts, several at a time. It was getting difficult until Galen jumped down and joined in the fray. He pushed his hand out and most of the troops flew dozens of meters forward into the air or backwards into the snow. It was an impressive display of power.

I shut off my blade and ran over to Sonya, "Are you ok?"

Sonya nodded, then looked sadly over to Gere's lifeless body. I followed her gaze and stared sadly at him as I noticed the shot in the side of his head.

"At least he wasn't in pain." I whispered under my breath and Galen ran over to us, his lightsaber fizzing out next to him.

"Time to go you two! There are more of them coming and Vader is coming too." He shouted and jumped into the open cockpit.

I froze slightly as I heard Vader's name. The Sith Lord was coming now. But, he was also Anakin Skywalker. He was just a sad and broken man. But, he was also a ruthless Sith Lord hardened by years under Palpatine's harsh teachings.

Sonya looked at me and grabbed my shoulders, "Blaze, we have to go!"

I shook myself out of the trance I was in and nodded, "Right. Do you trust me?"

Sonya colored slightly, "Yes, why?"

I clipped my weapon to my belt and wrapped my left arm around her waist. With a large burst of power, I leaped up and both of us landed on the ramp.

Sonya looked at me, a mixture of annoyance and happiness laced in her eyes, "Tell me next time!"

I smirked, "I will." I looked behind me at the cockpit, "Juno, get us the heck out of here before Vader finds us and literally _crashes_ the party."

I heard a laugh, then a boost of the engines as we shot off into the skies, leaving the rest of the Imperial strike force behind us. But, then again, I knew it wasn't over. There was still getting out of the system.

"Blaze." I looked over to Galen. He smirked, "Come on, let's man the turrets."

I nodded and turned to Sonya, "Get situated somewhere; it's going to be a bumpy ride."

"Right…" Sonya said, then stopped and gripped my arm like she did earlier, "Blaze…what I said earlier..."

I gave a small grin, "Let's talk about this later. Right now, I gotta make sure we don't die."

Sonya nodded, "Right. Go."

I nodded and chased after Galen. He led me to a ladder like the one in the _Falcon._ He immediately went up the ladder and I went down the ladder. As I climbed down, the ship suddenly shook violently and I lost my grip on the ladder.

A moment of fear flashed through me as I fell downward.

At the last second, I grabbed hold of the metal bars and blew out a sigh, "Oh holy crap…That could've been bad."

"Blaze!" I heard Galen shouting from far above me, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" I shouted back, "Just slipped. I'm back in the game."

"Arm the cannons!" He shouted.

I nodded and dropped into the turret seat. It was set up very similar to the _Falcon's_ defense system, but had a different set of activation switches wired to the router mechanism. Even with all my knowledge, I didn't know exactly which button to push. Some of the switches looked similar, but others looked completely alien to me.

After a moment, I decided.

Moving my hand along the starter switches, I eyed a red button above what looked to be the restocking, or reloading, button.

"Ah, please let this be the right one." I whispered under my breath and hit the button. The turret sputtered for a moment before it lit up with a blue light. The targeting screen came on-line and the controls stood up for someone to take them.

And that someone was me.

"Hell yeah!" I said to no one and grabbed the controls. With my fingers over the firing buttons, I looked to the radar and saw four TIEs coming in close. At the speed they were moving at, they'd be on top of us in a few seconds.

I smirked to myself, "This is going to be fun."

There was a flash of green and a blast of energy lit up the darkness around me. I pulled the controls and fired rapidly, missing all of the TIEs completely. They came around for another pass and I missed again. Suddenly, I felt like Luke from Episode IV.

"They're moving too fast!" I growled and continued the steady stream of firepower. Suddenly, one of my blasts clipped the wing of one of the TIEs and it flew into the vastness of space, where it exploded in a dazzling flash of light.

 _Got one!_ I thought and continued to fire at full speed.

There was another explosion as another TIE exploded, but I didn't hit it. The blast wasn't mine. I suddenly looked up. It was most likely Galen's shot. Another rumble of the ship made me focus back on shooting. The remaining two TIEs were breaking up into scatter formation. That type of random, fast movement would be hard to track…let alone hit.

"Blaze, one coming into quadrant four!" I heard Galen shout out to me.

I looked at the radar and saw it coming straight into my firing range. In fact, if I just fired at the right moment, I could destroy it without moving the turret's trajectory.

 _Lucky me._ I thought happily as I pushed the firing button a few seconds later, completely obliterating the TIE fighter that ran through the path. It was only a few seconds later before the last TIE was struck by Galen's blaster fire and it was done.

I quickly made my way up the ladder and ran to the cockpit. Juno was there and she turned and saw me, "Where's Galen?"

I thumbed behind myself, "He's coming. Let's get out of here."

Juno nodded, "Making the jump to lightspeed…now." She said and threw a large, silver switch on the control panel. The engines roared to life and I felt that pulling sensation again like on the shuttle. The stars suddenly became longer and distorted as we jumped into the blackness of space.

Galen walked in behind me and laid his hand on my shoulder, "Nice shooting." He said with a small smile.

I nodded, "Thanks." I turned around to the door and opened it with a click of a button, "Call me when we reach wherever we're going."

"We're going to the Rendezvous Point." Galen said, "The entire Alliance Command should be getting there."

I mulled this over, "Okay…how long until we get there?"

Juno stood up and looked at me, "With a standard hyperdrive we'd be there is a little under two days…but with the _Rouge Shadow's_ hyperdrive, which I just upgraded a month ago, we'll be there in a little over four hours."

 _Four hours? If everything is going according to plan, then that means that when we get there Han will going to Bespin. The timeslot is almost a perfect window._ I thought as I nodded to Juno, "Thanks, I'm gonna go check on Sonya in the other room."

Galen looked at me and cracked a smile, "You do that. Me and Juno will run through any of the channels and see if we can contact any of the transports."

I listened to what he said then left, the door sliding shut behind me. I walked through the small entryway and made it to the main part of the ship. Now that I had a good look at it, I realized that it was an exact copy of what I'd been accustomed too.

There was the star chart over by the terminals on the right side of the room. The holo projector was stationed not far from the star chart. There was the few doors that led to different sections of the ship. That was something I didn't dare miss. I saw a work bench place with the crystals and tools I'd seen before on my first time in.

Then I turned to where Kota was once stationed after his departure from Nar Shaddaa.

Sonya was sitting in the booth.

I smiled and walked over, taking off my heavy coat and hat as I did so. I laid them beside me as I sat across from Sonya.

"So, what's the word?" She asked once I sat down.

I grunted slightly as I sunk into the padding on the seat, "We're heading toward the Rendezvous Point as we speak."

"And General Galen?" Sonya pressed forward, her eyes searching mine.

I leaned forward slightly, "He's trying to contact someone from the fleet. We've got about four hours to relax before we get to the fleet."

Sonya smiled at me and took a deep breath, "Well, some relaxation does sound nice after that battle."

It was then I caught she was holding her own arm. Worse than that, she still had on her coat and I could now see the distinct burn mark across her forearm. It was black but was slightly faded. She'd just received that recently.

"You got hit?" I asked gently.

Sonya's eyes widened, then she blushed, "The blast just grazed me. I'm fine."

I shook my head and spoke softly, "Here, let me see."

I moved over to sit beside her on the side of her hurt arm and I looked at it through the fabric of her coat. I could only see some of the blast, but not enough of it.

"Take your coat off." I said.

"W-What?" Sonya sputtered and blushed more.

I gave a chuckle at her reaction, but felt my own face burn at her thought, "So, I can see the wound."

"Oh," Sonya's face burned brighter, "Right."

She had just taken off the first part of her coat when she was attempting to pull off the second half with little success. I reached out and gently took off her coat while trying to miss her arm. It worked and I took the coat in my hand and threw it across the small table in front of us. It landed with my coat and hat in a pile on the other end of the booth.

Now Sonya was in her gray tank top. I felt my face warm, but I willed it to go down. She looked _really_ good in that!

Sonya reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a small, sliver looking patch with four glowing blue spheres in each of the corners. She handed it to me, "Bacta patch."

 _Concentrate, James._ I nodded and looked at the wound. It was more than a graze, but it was less than a full on shot.

"How'd you get it?" I asked as I gently placed the patch on her arm. As I steadied the patch so it would stick, my hands brushed her tan skin, about as tan as mine, and I noticed for the first time how soft it was.

Sonya looked back up from her arm and at me as I raised my head to look at her, "Sniper. A sniper took a shot at me a few minutes before you came and got me. Thanks for that by the way." She smiled.

I smiled, "Your welcome. You good now?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it feels better now. Thanks."

I nodded as I started to move back to where the coats were. A hand suddenly stopped my movement. My hand was pressed against the cushion of the booth by another, much softer one. I looked up at Sonya, who smiled bashfully at me as her face became red again.

"You don't have to move. I-I mean if you don't want to." She said softly.

I looked back into her eyes and nodded, "I'll stay."

Sonya's eyes suddenly lit up, "Besides, I saw you on that AT-AT and what you did. How exactly did you do that? I want to know. Can you tell me?"

I felt pride at my accomplishment and happiness that I got to say something about it, "Yeah. You're going to love this. Okay, this is how it went…"


	6. Chapter VI: Connections

**Sorry for the wait. In all honesty, I forgot haha! FORGIVE ME!  
**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **VI** **: Connections**

 ** _"_** ** _The way you make me feel! Waking up to you never felt so real…" Skillet-Comatose._**

"We'll be at the Rendezvous Point in three and a half hours." Juno said as she walked in just as I was finishing my story. I heard her, but I didn't pay much attention and I continued to speak to Sonya. I'd found she was a great listener and she was very interested, even intrigued, about the Force.

"So, I sliced the neck off of the AT-AT and leaped into the snow just before the entire thing exploded on me." I said, making an explosion reference with my arms. "Then Galen came and killed the trooper that was going to shoot me in the face."

Sonya laughed lightly, "Couldn't see him in front of you, could you?"

"Not when my entire face was covered with snow." I said, bantering back.

"You never said anything about your face in the snow." Sonya said, laughing harder.

"Oops" I deadpanned, then chuckled, "I meant to skip _that_ part."

Sonya just laughed at me.

I saw Juno out of the corner of my eye, but I could also sense her in the Force. She still had that pleasant air floating around her like the beginning. Not that I expected that to change, but it was just something else entirely.

The Force was beginning to come naturally and I didn't have to concentrate so hard to use it. It was just _there._ It felt as if it was another extension of myself. It felt completely natural.

Juno suddenly left and I turned back to Sonya completely.

"So, what was home like?" I asked after a second.

Sonya's eyes flashed with remembrance and she smiled, "Home was amazing…" She suddenly frowned and I felt a twinge in the Force.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I said gently.

Sonya smiled at me, "No, I do. Home was great. My parents were some of the best parents in the entire galaxy. They were always kind and they never fought. Some little things changed once my brother, Kade, joined the Imperial Academy when I was thirteen, but nothing drastic."

I folded my hands over the table, "Your brother joined the Empire?"

Sonya nodded, "Yeah, he did. He'd send us holo-messages from time to time so we'd know he was still alive. Once, I remember him sending us a holo of him in his cadet outfit. He looked so proud to be one of them…"

"But you never believed in the Empire." I said, almost completely finishing her thought.

"No." Sonya shook her head and wrapped her arms around her, "I didn't, but Kade did. He believed that the system that Palpatine had set in motion was the right way to go. He felt like he owed it to him to fight for his cause. Soon, Kade started to say that the Empire was part of _his_ cause."

I nodded, deciding to change the subject, "Okay, so, what about friends?"

Sonya smiled brightly. It was a true, genuine smile that I had rarely seen, "I had the best of friends. My best friend's name was Ryna. Me and her met at school when we were about twelve and were friends ever since. She and I did everything together. When I was fourteen, she tried to hook me up with a boy named Pul but I never did." Her eyes flashed her bright green-blue color as she looked to me, "What about you? What's your story, flyboy?"

I laughed, "Did you just call me flyboy?"

"Yes I did!" Sonya giggled. "Come on, spill it."

"You know, there's not much to tell." I said dismissively, "My parents were great, my sisters were great, and my brother was great. My life was pretty much great until a…while back."

"What happened?" Sonya asked, smiling at me.

I frowned, "A Sith student named Terra Brax took me and a few of my friends from our home. We escaped a little later and joined the Alliance."

It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't in the right time perspective.

"You have some friends here. Where are they?" Sonya asked.

"They made it out with Leia, Han, and Chewbacca back at the base." I said.

Sonya's eyes widened, "Your friends got out with the princess?"

I nodded, not seeing the big deal, "Yeah, Galen helped me get them onto the _Falcon_ before I assumed command of the defense on the front lines."

Sonya blew out a whistle, "Wow, you guys must be really important to be getting that kind of escort out."

I chuckled and thought about the asteroid field that Han was probably running into right about now, "Trust me." I said. "I doubt it was a good escort. The Stardestroyer that was orbiting Hoth is probably hunting them right now."

"Then shouldn't we re-route our coordinates and help them?" Sonya asked, standing up from the booth.

I looked at her, but I looked at _all_ of her. This was the first time I'd take in more details about her. She was smaller than me by a few inches and her skin was just as tan as mine. She was sixteen, as she told me, so I could see the developing curves in her figure. Her chest wasn't big, but she was far away from being flat chested. My eyes lingered there for a bit before I pulled away my gaze.

She was absolutely hot.

I tore my gaze from her figure and looked into her eyes as they met my now fixing gaze. I cleared my throat, "Uh, no, we shouldn't. The _Falcon_ has enough power and maneuverability to make it through whatever comes its way. Plus, we're just one ship and we can't afford to be captured by the Empire."

"Why not?" Sonya asked, though I already knew it was an empty question.

Whether or not that was the case, I still answered, "There are multiple reasons. If the Empire, let alone Vader, gets a hold of this ship, they'd be able to reverse engineer the crystal that makes this ship cloaked and have it mass produced to several other Imperial ships. Another reason is that Galen has a history with Vader, so if those two were to duke it out, I'm not sure if the Stardestroyer could handle it."

"They are that powerful?" Sonya's voice was hollow. She sounded shocked and surprised.

I nodded, "They are more powerful than we can possibly imagine."

"And you?" Sonya suddenly said as she flicked a piece of brown hair away from her field of vision, "How strong are you?"

I chuckled, "I'd like to think I'm very strong, but compared to those two I'm a joke. They've got years of experience on me. I think that the best thing I have is that I can see what type of form you're using against me and I can either copy that form, or completely contrast it."

"Sounds like a useful technique." Sonya mused aloud.

I nodded, "Well, I'll never see how truly affective it is until I face a live opponent in a duel."

"Wait." Sonya held her hands up, "You've never used the technique before?"

"No, I have. I just haven't used it on anything wielding a lightsaber." I said before looking at the holo-droid walking across the room, "Proxy doesn't count."

Proxy must've heard me because he turned and walked over to me, "Greetings, Blaze Marko, I understand you were inquiring about me?"

I shrugged, "More or less about what happened earlier."

Proxy held a mechanical figure up, "Ah, you mean when you interrupted my master and I in our training program."

I nodded, "Yeah. I was just telling Sonya here about-!" I never finished as Proxy cut me off.

"Master Marko here walked in on our master and me when we were sparring with some of my older training modules. They were designed for an earlier type of combat, so, naturally, Blaze won against me because of the level of the program I was using." Proxy said.

Sonya's eyes widened, "You have more than one program? How many exactly do you have?"

Proxy showed as much emotion as a droid could as he responded, "I have several others that range in different forms of lightsaber combat. Some I've hidden for a long time and even my master doesn't know about them. They're designed to train someone in more ways than one in lightsaber combat by relying on their physical strengths too."

"Hold on." I said suddenly, "Back up."

Sonya looked at me, "What?"

I looked at Proxy, "Did you say that the only reason that I beat you was because of the level of training program you used?"

Proxy's optics focused on me, "That is correct."

I scoffed, "I doubt that."

Proxy seemed to brighten, even if that was possible, and held his hand up toward the training center, "Would you like me to prove it, Blaze Marko? It would stand to reason that a course of action like that may prove futile."

I looked at the droid and smirked, "If that was a challenge, and I think it was, then I accept."

Proxy got up and walked over to a black door and opened it, "Then let us begin."

"Fine, let's go." I said and stood up from the booth. I knew how strong Proxy's programs were, so it wasn't much of a stretch to say I'd be up for the task.

Sonya reached out and caught my arm, "Mind if I watch?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with question.

I nodded, "Sure, just stand by the door."

She nodded and we followed after Proxy into the training center. The training center was a large black room that was completely sealed off without any windows. There was a few, immensely bright lights that were imbedded into the ceiling that illuminated the entire room, but other than that it was plain. However, one big thing I noticed was that it was twice the size of the room we just exited from.

Proxy walked over to the edge of the room on the left side and I did the same thing only on the right. Sonya stayed by the door and watched me as I unclipped my lightsaber and ignited the blue-white blade. I held the blade back, away from my body, but within reach so I could easily grip it with both my hands for an effective defense.

"I already know that you know my _Shadowguard_ program and can easily best it, so I'll use something a little more challenging to your skill level." Proxy said before a blue and white electrical field washed over his entire body. There was a high pitched whirl of his holo-projector as he unlocked one of his programs. The electrical field suddenly disappeared and a different person altogether was left behind.

It was Obi Wan Kenobi.

"Ah crap. Of all the people he could've chosen…" I muttered softly to myself.

Proxy/Kenobi unclipped his lightsaber and ignited it, "This will do."

 _Holy crap, he even sounds like Obi Wan!_ I thought, though I already knew he would sound like him. Proxy was a prototype holo-droid and he could mimic the fighting styles of any opponent and could store it in his data banks to fight like that person…and use their physical image as a bonus. It would have been useful if he was built for assassinations or espionage, but he was just a training droid.

I sighed as I remembered that a part of his core processor was burned out on Raxus Prime, so I wouldn't have to be dealing with him trying to kill me or Galen.

 _But he's fighting with me now so he actually might kill me._ I reminded myself. Proxy was the type of training droid that wouldn't go easy on you just because you were an ally.

No, he would try to kill you. He would push you to your limits and make you surrender. He was ruthless in battle. Proxy definitely proved that when he attacked Vader, of all people, on Corellia to save Galen. Granted, he didn't even come close to winning, but he definitely tried. Vader had to block four attacks before he was able to stab Proxy through the chest.

"And this is that same fighting program." I said softly as I saw Proxy/Kenobi start to come closer.

I met his stride and we both continued until we were only four feet apart, then the fight began.

Proxy/Kenobi swung his blade at me, near my ribs, and I deflected the strike, using my shifted weight to balance the stride of the attack. As I broke off, I stabbed my blade at his chest, but he flicked it way and gave a downward slash.

I broke off my attack and rolled to the side, near another wall.

Proxy/Kenobi brought his blade over his head and delivered a swift, downward attack. As I brought my blade up to counter, his blade got caught in the wall. I followed through with my attack and wacked his blade back. Since his lightsaber was stuck for the moment, my attack made him recoil.

He stumbled slightly before regaining his balance.

This wasn't as easy as I had originally thought.

I stood up and gripped my blade in both my hands while holding the blade toward Proxy/Kenobi. I slowly inched my way to the disguised holo-droid, trying not to move too sudden. That paid off as Proxy/Kenobi made the next move. He swung the blade quickly in a spin and I had to time it just right to deflect the blade before it chopped me in half.

As Proxy/Kenobi spun for the third time, I saw the twist in his arm and the blade flew through the air with sonic speed. I deflected the quick strike just in time and I finally struck at him. He caught the blade with his as it aimed for his head. Sparks flew in different directions as the weapons made contact.

Proxy/Kenobi struck again, for my legs, and I blocked. It went on for a while like that, he attack and I blocked or I attacked and he blocked. However, as he swung for my mid-section, I saw a hitch in his shoulder. It was almost an entire second pause as he swung the blue blade in an arc that I had to duck to dodge.

That hitch was my way in.

As he tried the same attack again, I was ready for it. I ducked quickly under his strike and slashed at his chest. My blade crossed his chest and a large, burning gash suddenly appeared. It blackened and Proxy/Kenobi fell to his knees. However, before he hit the ground, he threw his lightsaber at me.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to dodge that on my own. But, I wasn't alone. I had the Force.

Letting the Force flow through my body, I reached out my hand and caught the hilt of the lightsaber and did a front flip over Proxy/Kenobi. I landed in front of him and crossed the two identical blades in a scissor strike across the droid's neck. Proxy/Kenobi looked up at me and it resembled fear in his eyes.

But I knew right then that Proxy, himself, had made a mistake. He was trying to use his optics to resemble fear to make me lower my guard, but what he didn't know was that Kenobi didn't fear. There was no fear in Obi Wan Kenobi, so the simulation didn't work. It was a smart play but not for someone as invested as me.

I shut the blades off and handed the hilt of Proxy/Kenobi back to the droid as his image fizzed out and he turned back into a droid.

Proxy stood up and sounded surprised, "I didn't calculate for such an attack, Blaze Marko. At the beginning of the battle, your chances stood from 2943 to 1, but they increased in the final moments of the fight. I'm not sure what you humans call it, but it seemed like a form of adaptation."

I looked over to Sonya, "See, I _adapted_ …or whatever."

Sonya's eyes were wide, "Wow! I've never seen anything like that before."

Proxy turned to her, "Of course not. Someone as young and unintelligent as you wouldn't be able to put yourself in any situation that let you observe such a feat."

"Proxy!" I shouted in annoyance.

Sonya shook her head, "No, he's right. I wouldn't put myself in that situation. But, with that being said, I'd still have a better chance of being alive if I didn't rather than if I did."

I was shocked now, "Come again?"

"She is merely stating a different opinion that reinstates the facts and gives her chances of survival an increase. Something that all humans do." Proxy replied, "However, I do still find it interesting of you adaption techniques, Blaze Marko."

"Blaze will do just fine, Proxy." I said and he nodded.

"Right, Blaze." Proxy said, "Well, I see you might be ready for another match?"

I nodded and went back to my side of the room. I smirked and ignited my lightsaber again, "Yeah, let's go. But, do something different."

Proxy nodded and took his place right before the same blue and white electrical field flashed back to life. As it engulfed his body, I silently hoped it would be Darth Maul. Not only did I want a challenge, but I also wanted a chance to duel something with a double-bladed lightsaber. The Obi Wan program was pretty tough, but the battle didn't go on for more than a few minutes. I had to say, though, that Proxy's copy of Obi Wan's fighting style was almost spot on, except for the hitch in his shoulder.

Soon, the field disappeared and I saw a double-bladed lightsaber ignite. I looked back up to stare into the sulfur yellow eyes of Darth Maul. It seemed my wish had been granted.

 _Yes, here comes the challenge of a lifetime._ I thought with a grin.

Suddenly, there was a flash and Proxy/Maul charged at me, immediately connecting his saber to mine. It was so quick that I almost was impaled by the blade.

 _AW CRAP!_ I frantically thought before I was on full defense. I knew right then and there that this was going to suck, but it would also be awesome. But, then again, a nerd for Star Wars like me would have those conflicting feelings. I focused back on the battle at hand.

* * *

The duel with Proxy/Maul was completely and utterly brutal, but I still beat him in the end by cutting him in half. But, it was a hard bout and he didn't let up. Something that he was continuously doing was trying to hit me with the hilt of his lightsaber. Most likely, it was an attempt to stun me so he could stab me, but it didn't work.

I didn't _let_ it work.

The battle itself took about twenty minutes. It was long and brutal. At one point, I considered conceding, but I figured that if I did, I'd be letting Proxy win. And I wasn't a quitter. It didn't matter if there were none around in this galaxy, but I was an Italian and I wasn't about to be beaten by a droid.

So, I fought on and won.

Proxy, of course, didn't split in half, but he almost did. He said that the damage to his midsection wasn't very serious, but if I had done the attack twice, it would've cut him in half. He went back into the main room with the workbench and started to work on himself. It wasn't until he was half way done that I noticed how tired I was. I then realized that I'd just fought in one of the most memorable battles in galactic history.

I went back over to the booth and rested my head against the backboard. It wasn't soft, but it would have to do. As I let myself relax, I felt the cool sensation of the Force flow through me and I felt myself go numb. At first, the numbing sensation frightened me slightly, but I soon calmed myself.

 ** _Close your eyes…_**

There was that voice again. I knew it had to be the Force because it was so soft and so calm. But, then something was very strange. I found that I could think _back_ to it.

 _Who are you?_

I waited for a response.

 ** _The real question is who are_** _you,_ _ **young one?**_

I almost opened my eyes. What kind of question was that?

 _I think that you already know who I am._

 ** _True, I do know who you are, but you are deluded about yourself._**

 _In what way? I know who I am._

 ** _Yes, but no one else does, and even then, they don't know who you really are._**

 _That makes no sense. I am who I am. To my friends I am someone completely different to the person that the Alliance now knows._

 ** _That may be the case, but did you wonder about your ability to use the Force so naturally?_**

I stiffened and took a deep breath.

 _What are you saying, huh? I'm not who I think I am?_

 ** _Your destiny is your own and a path was chosen for you. A path for you to gain knowledge, without really knowing who you were. The person that you think yourself as is different from who you are. In time, you'll find out more…_**

I suddenly jolted upright with a shock and I realized that the connection was split. I raised a hand to my head and found myself sweating. And, shockingly, my head was throbbing again.

"What the heck was that all about?" I whispered quietly to myself, "What was that? _Who_ was that?"

"Blaze, are you ok?" I heard suddenly and looked over across the booth.

Sonya was staring at me. She tapped her wrist, "We'll be at the Rendezvous Point in a few minutes. Captain Eclipse told me to tell you."

I looked around for a minute before rubbing my eyes and yawning, "Did I fall asleep?"

Sonya nodded, "Yes. You actually were asleep for a while. You've been sleeping for a couple of hours now."

"Sorry." I said as I stopped rubbing my eyes, "I'm just a little out of it."

"You were talking in your sleep." Sonya said quietly, "You were saying something about a city in the clouds."

That surprised me. Mostly because that wasn't at all what I thought I was dreaming about. I thought I was talking to someone I couldn't see, but I still couldn't be sure if it was the Force or not. But, a city in the clouds?

 _Bespin._ I realized what she meant. The voice in my head must've been sending me a message: I had to go to Bespin once I got the chance. I knew what would go down there for Luke, but what for me?

What was _my_ destiny?

 _The voice said that my destiny is my own. Could that mean that part of it lies with me going to Bespin?_ I rubbed my chin. This was certainly turning into more than just a coincidental trip into the galaxy. It was starting to become a path to start walking.

"Do you know what that means?" Sonya asked.

I shook myself out of my thoughts, "Oh, right. The city in the clouds. I have an idea. It could be meaning Bespin." I immediately thought of my cover story that I told Galen. I had to keep that intact to make it sound convincing.

"Bespin? That's where Cloud City is located, right?" Sonya asked.

I nodded, "Yeah."

"We have to tell General Galen about this." Sonya said and stood from the booth.

"I will." I said, joining her on the ground, "But not right now. I'll tell him once we've docked. It'll be less hectic if I drop it on him when we're in a hanger than rather do it when we're in hyperspace."

At that moment, Juno walked in, "We're approaching the Rendezvous Point. You might want to get up here."

We followed her into the cockpit and found Galen at the controls, his hands steadying the throttle. We sat in the two chairs behind the pilot seat and the co-pilot seat and looked out as we dropped out of hyperspace. I immediately saw several large, Mon Calamari Starships and a few medical frigates, as well as several transports and X-wings.

"Welcome to the Rendezvous Point." Galen said.

I smiled. _Awesome!_


	7. Chapter VII: The Center

**Disclaimer: I don't own the music. Entertainment purposes only.**

* * *

 **Chapter VII: The Center**

 ** _"_** ** _The needle's breaking your skin; the story's sinking in; and now your trip begins but it's all over for…it's all over for you!" Three Days Grace-It's All Over_**

Galen and Juno docked the _Rouge Shadow_ in the large Mon Calamari starship in the center of the Alliance Fleet. The way that the other starships and transports were around it created a defensive circle. It occurred to me that the ship we docked with was Admiral Ackbar's cruiser, _Home One._

As the ship finally touched down inside the cruiser, I couldn't help but think of Bespin. Though I was probably going to be introduced to Admiral Ackbar himself, the Mon Cal was the last thing on my mind. I could still hear remnants of the voice's voice in my head.

The shipped rattled slightly as the engines suddenly died out and the ramp opened and lowered itself to the metal ground of the hangar. I stayed there for a moment, just staring at the open space in the floor before Sonya, who was still across from me, stood up and walked over to the side of the room. She slung her rifle over her shoulder and looked back at me.

A second later, Galen and Juno walked through the cockpit doors and made their way down the ramp, leaving me sitting at the booth. Sonya looked back at me and motioned with her head that we had to go. I just looked at her for a moment, then blinked my eyes.

"Are you coming?" She asked.

Something I hadn't missed from her request is softness of her voice. It wasn't a question that told me to hurry and get going. But, it sounded like she was asking me to come because she wanted me to.

I smiled and stood up from the booth, "Yeah, I'm coming."

Sonya smiled back at me and walked down the ramp. I followed, but shielded my eyes as I made it out of the _Rouge Shadow_. It was freaking bright!

After my eyes adjusted, I looked around the hangar. It was a large, spacious hangar with several X-wings and A-wings across its flight pads. Ladders made their way from the sides of the ships and up to the cockpits, awaiting the time when a pilot would climb up and man the controls. Of all the space in the hangar, it was also very full. There were dozens of men and women in orange suits and some in black or gray combat gear.

My senses went off again and my head snapped to the right as I saw an X-wing fighter's cockpit open up with a soft screech of its hydraulics. I cringed slightly at the sound, but masked the face with a different one as I saw who jumped out of the pilot seat.

It was the pilot from Echo Base.

It was the pilot that I couldn't sense correctly.

He was probably in his mid-forties and had short, black hair. He was taller than me, but I could feel something else in the air. It wasn't something as prominent as danger, but it was still there. It was almost elusive.

I couldn't fully grasp it.

And that scared me.

I turned back around, away from the pilot, and followed Sonya through the ship. We walked out of the hangar and into a corridor. We continued to walk through the long hallway before we reached a lift where Galen and Juno were just getting on. We picked up our pace and made it on just before the lift took off upwards.

Galen pushed a button, "We're going to the bridge."

"Admiral Ackbar will be there to give us an update on the situation." Juno said.

"What situation?" Sonya asked, shifting her weight slightly.

I noticed this and moved over away from her, to give her room, and looked at Juno, "Yeah, what situation? We made it out of the base in one piece, right?"

" _Most_ of us made it out in one piece." Galen corrected me and looked at me, "There's been a slight situation."

"Such as?" I raised my eyebrow in question.

Galen sighed, "We haven't heard from Princess Leia or Captain Solo since we took off. They weren't communicating through the channels and we didn't get a response when we tried to contact them. They've gone silent."

I silently chuckled. I knew where they were. Or, where they were going to be. The whole chronology thing of Star Wars, especially days or hours, wasn't my strong suit. Details concerning hardware, craft, or even strategies were my thing, but not timeframes.

My thoughts immediately drifted to my friends. Dave, Ben, and Ali were still onboard the _Falcon_. And only one of them knew where the heck they'd be going. Plus, that same one knew exactly where they would go, what would happen, and maybe even some things to avoid it.

Only Dave knew for sure.

 _I hope you say and do the right things Dave._ I thought as the lift continued to move up.

"You mean you can't reach them at all?" I asked, fully knowing the answer.

Galen shook his head, "I would've been able to contact them on the _Rouge Shadow_ if I could."

Juno looked thoughtful, "Something's wrong with their ship."

"It could be just interference or something. Maybe that Stardestroyer orbiting Hoth caught up with them." I suggested, secretly sneaking in the truth.

"Maybe." Galen turned to me, then gestured upward, "But, Admiral Ackbar might have a different setting on this. If it was the Stardestroyer, then maybe he can pinpoint its location and then we can find the _Falcon_."

I frowned and turned to Galen, "Then, wouldn't the Stardestroyer be sending out jamming signals to make sure that we _don't_ find them?"

Galen slapped a hand to his face, "Of course!" He said to himself, "I didn't think of that. That Stardestroyer, the _Avenger,_ is equipped with a Mark II sensor array and its frequencies can be reversed to _jam_ an incoming scans or contacts instead of _receiving_ them. Good catch, Blaze."

I suddenly felt complacent, "Thanks, Galen."

The lift suddenly stopped and the lift doors opened to reveal the bridge. It was everything it was cracked up to be in the books. It was large and spacious, with dozens of personnel at different stations all throughout the bridge. From turret stations to life support regulators, they were there doing their job.

I turned my attention back to the group as they started to walk into the bridge. I made my way over next to Galen as he stopped a few steps behind the captain's seat. The chair spun around and a dark, orange skinned alien with large, black eyes stared back at us. He was a pure white captain's coat and white pants. The coat he was wearing had several badge-like squares on the left side of his chest.

The orange, fish-like, alien walked over to us. He shared a few words with Galen before he looked at me, "Admiral Gial Ackbar, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Blaze Marko. Glad to meet you too." I said and shook the Admiral's webbed hand.

Admiral Ackbar gave a semblance of a smile, then looked back to Galen, "Any contact from Captain Solo?"

Galen shook his head, "I was hoping you had."

"No." Ackbar turned to look out the main viewport, "We haven't received any transmissions from Captain Solo or Princess Leia."

Galen gestured to me, "Blaze suggested that they might be being pursued by the _Avenger._ It would explain why they've gone dark."

Ackbar gave a shrug, "That may be, but if they were, then they'd be able to make it to the Rendezvous Point with their hyperdrive."

"Are you saying that something is wrong with their ship?" Juno asked.

Ackbar nodded, "Yes. I was told by General Reekan that Solo was fixing the _Millennium Falcon_ shortly before the Imperials arrived and he was never able to finish. What if one of those things he didn't finish was fixing the hyperdrive."

"Then they'd have to get away on pure flight power." I suggested, "Hoth has an asteroid belt, right? They probably hid there to avoid the _Avenger_."

Sonya looked over to me, "That would mean that any communication wouldn't work because of the interference from the asteroids."

Ackbar smiled at her, "Precisely, young one."

"So, what? We just wait till we think that they're out of there?" I asked.

Ackbar shook his head and turned back to us, "I already sent out more coded transmissions to them recently."

"How recently?" Galen asked, squinting his eyes slightly.

Ackbar frowned, "Minutes before you arrived."

"Then maybe their transmission satellite is damaged." Juno said and walked over to Galen's side. She threw a look at me, and I moved up.

Ackbar's gaze shifted from the darkness of empty space to the floor of the bridge, "Yes. That could always be a possibility."

"A possibility?" I almost scoffed, "It is your only theory now."

"Blaze is right." Juno said, "If their communication satellite is damaged, then how are we to reach them? And, if their hyperdrive is damaged, where would they go?"

Ackbar's head suddenly snapped up and he turned to a human man at a star chart, "You! Give me a list of inhabited planets near the Hoth System. I wanted data charts and atmospheric readings."

"Yes, sir." The man said and started working on getting the charts.

I leaned over to Galen, "I think they're going to Bespin."

Galen looked at me, "You mean where you're from."

I was shaken for a moment before speaking, "Yeah, that's where I was born, but I lived on...You know, this isn't the point. The point is that they are going there. It's the only place in that sector that has the resources to repair his ship."

Galen looked indecisive, "Are you sure that they are going there?"

"Yes." I said stronger, "I…I had a vision that they were there. I saw Han, Chewbacca, and Leia on top of a platform on Cloud City."

"You had a vision?" Galen asked, his voice not betraying the surprise he felt.

I nodded, "I did. Sonya told me that I kept talking about a city in the clouds and that it was important. It is the only place that I can think that Han would go near to get his ship fixed."

There was a moment of undeterred silence, before Galen looked up and turned to the man at the star chart, "Check Bespin. How close is it to the Hoth System?"

The man took a moment to find Bespin, "It is…a very short distance from Hoth, sir."

"Is it close enough where a ship could make the journey without using a hyperdrive?" Galen asked, walking over to the star chart and taking a look for himself.

The man nodded to his supreme commander, "Yes, sir. The space between the two is short enough for a ship to travel without using a hyperdrive."

"Thank you." Galen said and walked back over to me, "You're right, Blaze. Our best bet is that Solo calculated that Bespin was closer and he went there and their communication relay is down."

I let out a chuckle, "Yup. What's the plan?"

Galen stayed quiet for a good thirty seconds before he spoke again, "I sense something else behind this whole thing."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Galen motioned for me to follow him and we walked to the entrance of the bridge. Sonya looked at us as we left, but didn't follow.

"Blaze, the Force is telling me that there is something you _aren't_ telling me." Galen said.

I turned to the elder Jedi and I sighed. Now was a good time as any, "Okay, what I didn't tell you is that the vision included me."

"What?" Galen frowned.

I nodded, "Yes, I saw myself there and I heard my own voice. I know that I have to go there."

"By yourself?" Galen asked, then looked around and stepped aside as two people entered the bridge.

I looked to the ground, "I…I don't know. I saw Sonya there, but I didn't see you there. Or Juno or Proxy. It was just me and Sonya and the others that are already going there."

Galen Marek was a smart man and a great Jedi, but he wasn't very good at reading other people, so fooling him with this 'vision' business wasn't as hard as I thought. He was pensive for several moments, before he nodded. A rush of relief flooded my system.

But there still was a semblance of truth in my story.

I could only be sure that Sonya and I were there with Han and the others.

"Fine." He said, "But I feel something brooding underneath this. You need to be careful."

Suddenly, my body went completely numb and my vision went blank. I could hear Galen's voice calling out to me, seeing if I was alright. But, I wasn't. My legs suddenly gave out and I crumpled to the floor. Consciousness started to recede and I could do nothing as pitch black darkness surrounded me.

* * *

 _I opened my eyes and found myself in a white room lit only by a single, luminescent bulb in the middle of the ceiling. It was a large, square room with no doors and no windows. It was completely sealed._

 _I stood up and looked at myself. I was in dark blue jeans and a red t-shirt with black and silver shoes. I had on a utility belt, though, with my lightsaber attached to a hook. I looked around the room, "Hello?!"_

 _My voice echoed off the walls and came back to me._

 _I was alone._

 _"_ _Hmmm…" I hummed to myself, "Been in worse situations than this."_

 _That was an assurance to myself. I'd come close to death so many times in my life, whether it was car accidents or other incidences that caused me to go into the hospital._

 _Yet, this particular situation had nothing to do with any of those._

 _This had to do with me right now._

 _ **"**_ _ **Do you feel anything by lying to them?"**_ _A voice called out to me. I immediately recognized it to be the voice I heard earlier._

 _I looked around the room as I made my way to the center, "Where are you?"_

 ** _"_** ** _You didn't answer my question, young one."_**

 _I frowned, "And I'm not going to if I don't see who I'm talking to. A lot of the things you've told me don't make sense, so don't be offended when I say that I don't trust you."_

 ** _"_** ** _You should trust me. After all, I am your power."_**

 _I turned around suddenly and I saw a flash of gold in the back of the room where I was a few seconds ago. I whipped my head back around, "Enough with these stupid games!" I shouted and the room suddenly turned gray, "Come out!"_

 _I stood there, waiting silently as the room slowly returned back to white._

 _I stood, transfixed, as a bench suddenly appeared next behind me. I looked around for a second before I sat down. The room finally turned back to white as I took a deep breath._

 ** _"_** ** _Are you calm, now?"_**

 _There was no use in fighting something I couldn't see, so I nodded, "Yes."_

 ** _"_** ** _Back to my question: Do you feel anything by lying to them?"_**

 _I nodded and felt my stomach sink slightly, "Sure, I feel something. But, it's not like I can say anything to them. I know way too much and they'd get suspicious."_

 ** _"_** ** _That is true…You were given this path for a reason."_**

 _This made me look up at the ceiling and that same flash of gold came, "What path? Being here? Changing history?"_

 ** _"_** ** _Yes and no. Your destiny is your own and only you can figure it out. I am just here to guide and help you."_**

 _I looked to the left side for a split second, then turned to the right and caught sight of a person in a white robe. It was pulled up over their face, so I couldn't see it. But I still caught it._

 _I stood up and stared at it, "Help me? You said you were my power?"_

 _The white robed figure stood still, but that voice continued._ _ **"I**_ _am_ _ **your power."**_

 _I kept inching my way forward while speaking, but when it said power I stopped, "And what does that mean, exactly?"_

 _The white robbed figure turned around and it showed a woman, no more than twenty, with long, half brown half blonde hair. She stood about five foot eleven inches and had crystal blue eyes. The robe fell and it revealed her to be wearing a white and black dress that was cut at the knees. She was incredibly attractive, but she had a sense of calmness that seemed to circulate around her._

 _I nearly gasped as I jumped backwards and reached for my lightsaber._

 _Only to find that my lightsaber wasn't even there._

 _I looked at my belt with my eyes wide before I suddenly found myself staring at my lightsaber, but it was in the hands of the woman._

 _"_ _Who_ _ **are**_ _you?" I nearly shouted._

 _The woman looked up to meet my gaze. She tossed me my lightsaber and I clipped it to my belt as she smiled gently, "I am the Force."_

 _I was shocked. The woman in front of me was the Force? "You're the Force?"_

 _The woman, the Force apparently, smiled again, "Yes, I am. Well, a part of it in you. You see, when someone is gifted with the Force, they are given a part of it to wield and that becomes what I am."_

 _"_ _All Force users have you?" I asked._

 _The woman shook her head, "No, they have a part of the Force in them. I'm_ _ **your**_ _part of the Force."_

 _"_ _I've never heard of that…even back home." I said, not caring because I now knew that the Force knew what I had learned._

 _"_ _You wouldn't have. The path you were given was so that you would better understand your destiny." The woman said, then disappeared. In a split second, she was sitting on the bench. She motioned for me to sit, and I did. I suddenly felt so much calmer and safer now that I knew who the voice was. I sat down and she smiled at me._

 _"_ _And what is my destiny?" I asked, raising my head to look at her._

 _The woman smiled slightly and gave a small laugh, "I would tell you if I could, but that's why it's called_ _ **your**_ _destiny. You must walk it."_

 _"_ _But, you were there. On the Torrent." I said softly, "It was you that was telling me to go left or right. It was you that told me to close my eyes and focus in Echo Base. It was you I talked to earlier."_

 _"_ _I never said you had to walk it alone." The woman laughed lightly. She then turned serious, "You need to know something."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _The Force has always been in the central part of your life, so I've always been there. In the accidents that you've been in, I was there. I helped your healing process. I've always been there, but I've just been there. I am no one…yet. Right now, you've finally met me, and me you." The woman said, her voice soft and compassionate._

 _I realized then that she was still a person, but she was a part of me. She'd never met me and I'd never met her, so this was a big step for both of us._

 _"_ _Yes, it is." The woman said, "Now I am someone in you, rather than just being there."_

 _"_ _So, you are a person?" I said, then smiled gently, "Then what's your name? I know you're the Force, but you're my part of the Force. You have to have a name, right?"_

 _The woman shook her head sadly, "No, I don't."_

 _I smiled as something came to mind, "You said that the Force has always been part of my central life, right? Then that would mean that you've been at the center. C is short for center."_

 _The woman smiled brightly, "C? I like it."_

 _"_ _Is that what this was all about? Me meeting you?" I asked gently._

 _C shook her head and frowned slightly, "No, that was a part, but the really problem lies ahead."_

 _"_ _Ahead?" I said. "You mean Bespin? I know what I have to do."_

 _"_ _You don't." C said matter-of-factly. "You don't."_

 _"_ _What's that mean?" I asked and stood up, "I know what will happen if I don't go there. I have to go there."_

 _"_ _You do know what will happen if you don't, but do you know what will happen if you do go?" C asked and stood up from the bench and made her way to the middle of the room. She motioned for me to stay where I was and she sighed, "You will be tested."_

 _I shuddered slightly from the tone in her voice, but I kept a straight face, "I know."_

 _C suddenly frowned and her voice was commanding, "This is no longer a game. You have to treat the situation very delicately, or you will be destroyed. If not by physical means, then by psychological means. As I said, you will be tested."_

 _"_ _Okay…" I said. "Then…Then I need help. We need to work together."_

 _C smiled warmly and ran up to me. She looked at me and wrapped her arms around me and laughed, "That's what I like to hear!"_

 _She released me and laid her hand on my head. After a moment, she smiled, "I think you're ready for this. You know I'm always here for you. Now, because of you, I am someone now. Not everybody is able to see their side of the Force, but you were. You are special."_

 _I smiled, "Thanks, C. I won't let you down. I won't let my friends down."_

 _C suddenly leaned forward and pressed her lips to my forehead. Suddenly, everything started to blur, but she didn't. As she stepped backwards, the room disappeared and it was completely dark. C started to disappear and I tried to call out, but my voice was gone. But, even though she was gone, I could still hear C's voice._

 ** _"_** ** _Remember, I will always be with you."_**

* * *

The real world came back to me in an instant and I suddenly found myself on the bridge again. However, I was on the floor. Galen was above me and hoisted me to my feet. My head was throbbing and my heart was pounding, but I could still think clearly. And I remembered what just happened.

As I made it to my feet, Galen looked at me, "Are you alright?"

I shook my head, "Not really. But, I think that I was just given a conformation of what I have to do."

"And that is?" Galen asked.

I looked over his shoulder and into the entrance of the bridge and saw Sonya looking at us. She immediately turned around once I made eye contact with her and I could see the red spreading to her cheeks.

I turned my attention back to Galen, "I have to go to Bespin with Sonya. That is my destiny."

"The Force spoke to you?" Galen asked, then closed his eyes, "I feel something shifting in the Force, Blaze. Something is coming and it has to do with you. I can see…Bespin. I can see you, but I can also see someone else. It's not Sonya. It's not anybody I can make out. It's just there."

"There." I said, "Maybe I have to find out what it is."

"Maybe." Galen said, then laid his hand on my shoulder, "But, be careful." His eyes suddenly darkened and I felt my heart constrict, "I can't see anything else. Your future is clouded."

I nodded, "I know."

"You know?"

"Yes, I do." I said and stood straight. "That doesn't mean that I'm not going."

Galen shook his head and motioned for the bridge, but I stood where I was, and he spoke, "Are you sure that it is only you two who are going? The Force must think that Sonya is important to be sending her with you on this mission."

I felt my heart rate increase, and I decided to speak my mind against my better judgment, "She is important. From the time I met her, I felt a connection. It was more like the Force itself was trying to tell me something. I can't really explain it any farther than that."

Galen cracked a smile, "Your destinies are intertwined."

I chuckled, "I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"In my experience, it can be a good thing." Galen said, reassuringly, as he cast a glance at Juno.

"I know I'm going to regret saying this…" I said, "But I've got a bad feeling about this."


	8. Chapter VIII: Unveiled

**Disclaimer: I don't own the music. Would be rich if I litterally owned the music and produced and...you get the picture haha.**

 **It's my birthday so special update!**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **VIII** **: Unveiled**

 ** _"_** ** _Don't you know that I; could be the one; to hold you." Skillet-Yours to Hold_**

The search for the _Falcon_ on Ackbar's side proved fruitful, but he wasn't able to mobilize due to the fact that Bespin was in the Empire's reach. Ackbar even suggested that the Empire, mainly the _Avenger,_ had followed Han to the planet and it wasn't safe for any transports to go.

Galen suggested that he and Juno take me and Sonya and we go investigate.

It was an understatement when I say that Ackbar wasn't thrilled about the idea.

He kept saying things like we might jeopardize the mission or we might forget to make contact at the appropriate times, but Galen was firm in his decision. Something I had to remember to thank him for later.

While Galen talked to Ackbar about our plan, I stepped outside the bridge and into the hall and talked to C.

"You there?" I asked quietly.

There was silence for a moment.

 ** _"_** ** _I'm here."_**

"Good." I let out a sigh of relief, "Galen is talking to Ackbar. Anything else you want to tell me before I go head-long into a storm."

I heard C chuckle from inside my head.

 ** _"_** ** _Other than the fact that you need to be careful, not much."_**

I made my way to the corner of the hall and leaned up against the side, "That's not very comforting, C."

 ** _"_** ** _I know…I'm just messing with you. As I told you before, this is going to be a trip where you will be tested. Plus, you may find out more about your life."_**

At the mention of my life, I looked upwards instinctively, "My life? You mentioned that earlier. What do you mean?"

 ** _"_** ** _Do you remember how I told you that you were deluded about yourself?"_**

I nodded, though to no one in particular, "Yes, I do. It was vague, but I do remember it."

 ** _"_** ** _I don't think I should say much because it's your own path, but I will tell you this: Whoever you think you are, you are not. Your name, your_** _real_ _ **name, isn't really your**_ _real_ _ **name."**_

I felt something click in the back of my head, "Are you telling me that I'm not-!"

 ** _"_** ** _No, you are not. But, you are yourself. You are not from that world. You are from this one."_**

I sunk to the floor and felt my chest fall in on itself. I couldn't breathe. Did I just hear what I thought I just heard? Was I not really from Earth? Was I from this galaxy?

"No…" I heard myself whispering. But, then again, it all made sense. It explained how I was able to tap into the Force so easily now. It explained why I felt a sudden reunification when I came into the galaxy.

But it didn't explain why I thought I knew Sonya from long ago.

She seemed very familiar.

 ** _"_** ** _That's because, in an effort to hide you from the Empire, you were hidden away. One day, the Empire found you and your parents sent you off into the galaxy. Your original destination was to Naboo, but it was altered by an electrical storm when you were leaving the atmosphere. Before you left, at the age of nine, your parents reached out into the Force and pulled together a string of memories and placed them inside your head. Because you were Force sensitive, your memories reciprocated themselves into the lives of the man and woman who would find you. You knew Sonya as a young child, but she was erased from your memory and you were erased from hers. That is why you can't remember her."_**

I was speechless. My parents weren't my real parents. I wasn't who I thought I was. And I knew Sonya from when I was younger? I was the child of two Jedi?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"C, you…" I swallowed, "You can't be serious."

There was a pause and I heard C take a breath, as if about to tell me something she didn't want to tell me.

 ** _"_** ** _I am."_** She said, **_"I know this is a lot to take in, but you can't let this distract you. There was a reason, a purpose, for you being sent away. And that reason is for you to walk your destiny as a Jedi."_** C's voice was soft and comforting. My thumping heart slowed and I took a deep breath.

"You're right, C. I can't let it mess with me. I've got a job to do…as a Jedi." I said, for the first time referring to myself as a Jedi.

But, that brought a question to my mind.

"C, what about my friends? When Terra captured us, she said that Chris, Glenn, Ali, and I were the strongest energies of the eight. Are my friends from this galaxy as well?" I asked, then felt a shift in the Force and I could tell Galen was on his way to talk to me.

 ** _"_** ** _I have to be quick. No, none of them are from this galaxy, but some of them were touched by your presence and, because of your transition from this galaxy to the other, some of your power rubbed off on them. However, a few of your friends don't have access to_** _any_ _ **of your power. So, Terra lied when she said that**_ _all_ _ **of you possessed the power of the Force."**_ C said quickly, but I sensed the strangest feeling when she said Terra's name. Nonetheless, she spoke again, **_"Galen Marek is coming. Stand up!"_**

I remembered I was on the ground and quickly got to my feet. The doors to the bridge slid open and Galen ran through them. His face held a frown, but it slowly turned into a smile.

I knew what was coming next.

I almost laughed at my next thought.

 _Inevitability._

"Is it a go?" I asked as he approached me.

He nodded, "It took some persuasion, but it's a go."

"And Sonya?" I raised an eyebrow at the Jedi Knight. "Did you tell her she was coming?"

Galen smirked, "I left that to you."

"Me?" I asked, my eyes widening and my voice rising slightly, "Why on Earth—" I stopped when I saw the look on his face, "—let me rephrase that. Why in this galaxy would you leave that job to me? You're the Leader of the Rebellion. You should tell her."

"Well, I thought it needed to come from someone she cared about, rather than a military official." Galen pointed to the end of the hall, "I let a guard escort her to a room down the hall, connected to yours with an adjoining door. I insisted she rest for a bit."

"How much rest?" I questioned, looking down the hall, "Shouldn't we get going to Bespin as soon as possible."

I knew that if we went now, we had a better chance of warning Han and the others before they walked into the trap with Vader.

"Blaze, you've been fighting non-stop for over eight hours, maybe even more. I think you need some rest too." Galen said gently, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I looked at him, "You didn't answer my question."

He chuckled at that, "Fine. Juno and I will use the _Rogue Shadow_ and escort you to the planet tomorrow. We'll keep the ship cloaked so you can get in without any…" He stopped and looked around for a minute, then turned back to me, "…any proper channels of access."

I gave an affirmative wink, "Gotcha."

Galen nodded, "Good." He pointed down the hall again. "The entrance to the room is down the hall, to the left, down another hall and the sixth door on the right. Got that?"

I nodded, "I got that."

Galen gave a warm slap on the back, "Go get some rest, Blaze. I'll handle the talks with General Dodonna and Admiral Ackbar."

"Sure you don't need me to talk about my experiences onboard the _Torrent_?" I asked.

Galen smirked, "Can you remember anything other than the cell blocks or the ship you used to escape?"

I chuckled, slightly embarrassed, "No, heh, heh."

"I thought not." The Jedi Knight said, then turned around and walked back to the bridge. He was gone within seven seconds. Not sure why I counted, but I did.

I sighed slightly and walked to the end of the hall and past the lift and turned left. I stopped at the beginning of the hall and looked at the rows of doors. I scratched my head, "What did he say? Sixth door on the right?"

I walked down the hall, quietly humming a track from _Comatose_. As I reached the sixth door, I looked at the access panel and ran my finger down the few buttons on it. I found the opening switch and pressed the orange button. There was a _hiss_ and the door slid open.

I looked into the room, but heard nothing.

 _Ah, this must be my room._ I thought happily as I walked in and found the bed. I flopped on it and sighed, letting myself sink into the mattress.

I then remembered I left my coat on the ship.

I chuckled as I pulled off my utility belt and flung it on the other side of the bed. Almost in the same motion, I pulled my lightsaber from the belt and held it in my hand.

 ** _"_** ** _You must walk your destiny as a Jedi."_**

I heard C's voice in my head.

I flipped the lightsaber up in the air and caught it upside down. I chuckled, "Who would've ever thought I'd be right where I am now?"

And who would've? I could remember a day ago, or maybe it was two days ago or maybe even more. Time had escaped me. I was sitting on Dave's chair as we both played Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on the PS2 on his HD TV. I'd just pulled out a massive combo on his character, Super Saiyan Vegito, and thrashed him into the ground before powering up my own character, Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta. I won the battle as I delivered my final attack on his unmoving form.

 _"Dick move."_ He had said.

I shook my head with a chuckle escaping my lips. _Where has the time gone?_

I sat up and laid the weapon beside me as I looked to the door on the side of the wall to my right. It was a silver, thin door that was about a foot taller than the entry door. The reason for that didn't come to mind and I just shrugged my shoulders and got to my feet, leaving my lightsaber on the bed.

As I reached the access panel, I turned back to my bed and felt something. It was more like a jolt through the Force, but it was just that. A jolt.

I pressed the button and the door slid open. I walked in and looked around in the second room. It was the exact same as mine. Yet, I didn't see Sonya around anywhere.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the side of the room where the refresher was.

It was Sonya in black shorts and a light gray tank top. Her hair was down, but it was darker. That was when I realized it was wet.

I felt my heart rate speed up and my cheeks become hot.

 _Oh, God. I just caught her right out of the shower!_ I thought, embarrassed. _Maybe that jolt thing was a warning!?_

"Hi, Blaze." Sonya smiled at me as her eyes locked with mine, "I didn't know you were in the other room."

I returned the smile, though somewhat nervously. "Neither did I until about five minutes ago."

Sonya nodded, then took a seat over on her bed, "So, what's up?"

"What?" I joked, "No more 'sir'."

Sonya laughed, "No more 'sir'. You told me not to."

I nodded, then laughed, "I did say that. Galen told me to get some rest before tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" Sonya asked.

"Tomorrow, you and I will be going to Bespin to see if we can find Han and the others." I said seriously.

Sonya was up on her feet in an instant, "Wait. What?"

"What?" I asked, looking at her and raising my eyebrow in question.

Sonya's eyes widened, "Admiral Ackbar and General Galen chose _us_ for that mission?!" Her voice held excitement and I could feel it through the Force, "How did we get chosen? I thought they would've chosen someone like spies."

I shook my head with a smile, "Nope, they picked us."

"Why?" Sonya looked to me.

I shrugged, "I'm guessing because of everything that happened on Hoth." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.

Sonya suddenly blushed, "Speaking of Hoth, can I ask you something?"

I spotted a chair in the corner of the room and sat down, the whole time my eyes locked with hers. I nodded, "Yeah, sure. Fire away."

Sonya shifted a bit, crossing her legs on the bed and biting her lip slightly. She took a deep breath, "Why did you do it?"

I was confused. I made a face, "Huh?"

"Why'd you do it?" She asked again, equally soft.

"Do what?" I asked.

Sonya gave a small smile, "Why'd you come back for me on Hoth?"

"What do you mean?" I felt my eyes widen. Why would I leave her?

"I mean, why did you come back? You could've left. It was just me left. Gere was dead and I was as good as dead. You could've gone with General Galen and Captain Eclipse and escaped faster." Sonya said, her voice riddled with emotion. It sounded like gratefulness, sadness, and confusion all in one.

"Sonya. I wasn't just going to let you die." I said, my voice staying the same.

Sonya bit the inside of her cheek, "But, _why_ didn't you?"

"Sonya, why are you asking me this?" I asked softly, "You know the reason why I didn't let you die. So, why ask me? I _couldn't_ let you die because I wasn't _going_ to let you die."

"You're avoiding my question." Sonya's voice still held pent up emotion, " _Why_ did you save me? I was a soldier you met hours, maybe even minutes, ago and you came back for me. Why?"

I stood up and walked over to her, my heart thumping in my chest. I was about to take a leap. It was a leap I was unsure about, but it was a leap nonetheless.

As my eyes locked with hers, I gave a small smile, "Because I didn't _want_ you to die."

"And I didn't want _you_ to die." Sonya said, then tears started to accumulate in her perfect eyes, "B-But why do I feel like there's so m-much more than I know? You t-tell me you didn't want me to die, but why did I feel so close to you. Why did I have so much sadness in me when you left to go fight? I shouldn't have these feelings, should I?"

"Sonya—" I started, then was cut off.

"Please let me finish." She said and took a deep breath, "I have another question." She reached up and gingerly touched my face with her hand. I involuntarily leaned my cheek, the one she was touching, into the palm of her hand. Her hand was cold.

"Why does this feel so familiar?" She asked softly, allowing two tears to fall from her eyes, "I'm so confused." She whispered.

I felt my heart twist inside my chest and I closed my eyes, not able to look at her crying.

But, that made me open them right back up.

Why _couldn't_ I look at her when she was crying?

How much did _I_ not know?

"Sonya…" I whispered, feeling a stinging in the back of my eyes and I willed it to go away.

"Tell me…" She whispered right back, "Tell me…W-Why does it feel so familiar?"

"I don't know." I said quietly.

 ** _"_** ** _But you have an idea."_**

I wanted to tell C that this wasn't the best time, but she was right. I did have an idea as to why this simple display of affection meant so much. If Sonya knew me as a little boy, then she must've done something like this to me and didn't remember it.

And neither did I, but it felt so familiar.

 ** _"_** ** _Tell her…"_**

I wanted to tell C that I didn't think she would believe me.

 ** _"_** ** _Then show her."_**

I raised my lips to say I didn't know how, but C was there again.

 ** _"_** ** _You've learned a lot on Earth. Do it. Make her remember…and you too."_**

I gave a mental nod sat on the bed next to Sonya. She looked at me, tears glistening in her eyes, "W-What are you doing?"

"I'm going to try something." I said and I took her hand and went to the floor. She sat in front of me and I sat cross-legged.

"What are you doing?" She asked again and I smiled.

"Sonya…the Force told me that we did know each other. It was years ago though." I said.

Sonya blinked away tears and her voice cracked, "What?"

"I knew you. And you knew me. We can't remember because I was sent away and your mind was wiped to hide my identity." I said, very gently as not to upset her any further, "So, I can't remember you either, but I still feel that you are familiar."

Sonya's eyes produced more tears, "H-How could I forget you? How was my memory wiped? Why was my memory wiped?" Her shoulders dropped and I could see her face contorting strangely. She looked angry, but very sad at the same time. When I arched my head slightly, I saw that she was shaking.

I sighed, "It was to protect me."

"F-From what?" Sonya whispered, still shaking. A few more tears leaked from her eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hand.

"From the most powerful being in the galaxy at the moment." I said, feeling my insides cringe and I frowned, "The Force told me it was to keep me out of the hands of the Emperor. I was important. I still am, but I don't know why."

"But, why wipe my memory? And who wiped my memory?" The first question was soft, while the other was angry.

I shook my head, "I don't know _who_ wiped your memory, but it was wiped so that the Empire wouldn't be able to use your memories to find my presence. If they'd done that, I'd just have become a Sith without ever knowing what was right…or what was wrong."

"And, now what?" Sonya asked, her voice cracking slightly, "Now what happens. You're here and you're not with the Emperor. So, why can't I remember you?"

I shrugged, "I'd guess that the memories are still tucked away somewhere in your head…or your heart."

 ** _"_** ** _They're in her heart."_**

Sonya looked at me and I felt the strangest urge to take her into my arms and let her cry against me, but I stayed where I was, frozen by my own words. Memories were a part of the sub-conscious and were basically just stored images under the cerebral cortex and in the cerebrum.

For memories to be in her heart wouldn't be logical.

But, then again, everything that had happened to me wasn't logical, yet, I was still rolling with the punches.

"My heart?" Sonya raised a shaking hand and laid it on her chest, "W-Why would they be in my heart?"

I shook my head, "I don't know…I just think they are." A thought suddenly occurred and I snapped my fingers together, "I got it! If anybody came looking for me and they knew that you once had connection, then they'd try to find out information about me, like locations."

"And then they'd find out I don't know where you were." Sonya said, calming down and continuing my thought.

I nodded, "And then they'd try to get the information out of your head by any means necessary…"

Sonya brightened slightly, "Then they'd find out that I actually _didn't_ know who you were and they'd never suspect that the memories of you were tucked away in my heart." Sonya sniffed, "I've got to say: whoever wiped my mind and put the memory of you in my heart was very smart."

"Right, but now I think its fine to get those memories back." I said. "And, who knows, maybe I'll get my memories back too."

Sonya nodded, now having complete control over herself and she looked at me strangely, "How does this work?"

I thought back to the books I'd read in my time at home—on Earth, I reminded myself—and thought about the memory transfer. Then I realized that it was a memory _transfer_ not finding out how to _uncover_ memories. I was about to open my mouth to say that I didn't know, when I felt a gentle touch from C.

However, it wasn't a Force touch.

It was a _physical_ touch.

And it was her hand running through my hair. I looked up, but saw nothing.

 ** _"_** ** _That was to show you I can be there physically too, when you need me too."_**

 _So, what? I just say the word and you come out into the open. Sounds a bit farfetched._ I thought and looked into Sonya's eyes, still trying to figure out a way to tell her.

 ** _"_** ** _Just say that you're summoning the Force to help you."_**

I was about to argue, but then an image flashed before my mind. It was of C's face. It was smiling warmly at me. I could feel a soothing presence wash over me and I felt a smile come to my face. In spite all the things that had happened, I felt calm and safe now.

Who knew the Force could do that?

Apparently, C did.

 _Pretty smart, C._ I thought before I refocused on Sonya. I took in a deep breath and spoke, "Okay, the Force is going to help me."

Sonya raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't explain anything to me."

"Not yet." I said, closing my eyes.

"How is it going to help us?" Sonya asked.

I opened one eye and looked at her, "You know, I'd be able to tell you if I could concentrate."

Sonya blushed, "Sorry, Blaze." She whispered.

I looked at her and realized, once again, how attractive she was.

Maybe it was the way the light reflected off of her?

Maybe it was the way she looked when she blushed?

Maybe it was just because I'd known her long ago?

 _Or am I starting to fall for her?_ I asked myself in my head as my eyes connected with hers.

"It's fine." I whispered back and smiled. I held back a chuckle when I saw her blush even more. I closed my eyes and felt the complete power of the Force rotate around me. It was amazing. I'd never felt anything like this kind of power before.

Before I knew it, I felt an overwhelming presence in the Force start to accumulate beside me. The darkness inside my eyelids suddenly turned golden and I didn't feel the ground below me anymore. In fact, I couldn't feel anything at the moment. It was as if everything had been stripped away, except the cooling sensation of the Force.

I continued to feel the Force flow through me for several more minutes before the golden light disappeared and I felt the ground with my legs. I opened my eyes and found myself on my feet. But, there was something else other than me on my feet.

Now, I sensed two people in the room.

I looked down at Sonya, who still was sitting on the floor, and saw her eyes widening with surprise but with fear at the same time. Yet, her focus wasn't one me, rather it was behind me.

I slowly turned around to see a familiar brown and blonde haired woman in black combat shorts and a white tank top covered by a white and black combat vest that stopped above her navel. She had on a black belt with several sections for carrying various things. It resembled a Jedi Knight's belt though.

I looked up into the face of the woman and smiled, "Hello, C."

C smiled at me and her blue eyes shone with glee, "Hello, Blaze." She took a deep breath, "So, this is the physical world? It feels nice." She looked at Sonya, "And this is Sonya Starcrest?"

I nodded and Sonya stood up. She looked at C and frowned, "How do you know my name? And why the heck did you just appear from a golden light?" She looked towards me, "Blaze, who is this woman?"

I smiled and waved an arm at C, "Sonya Starcrest, meet C, my connection to the Force."

"What does that mean?" Sonya asked, "She lives in you or something, huh?"

I nodded and smiled at her ability to get the facts correct so fast, "Exactly. She lives inside my head talks to me sometimes."

C stretched her arms and yawned, "Wow, that transition was tiring."

I turned to C and gently grabbed her shoulders, "C, I need you to open the memories in our hearts. That's why I summoned you, right?"

"Right." C smiled at me and looked toward the ground, "If you will."

"Hold up!" Sonya exclaimed, holding her hands up, "What is she going to do?"

I guess I should've expected Sonya's response. I sighed, "She's going to unlock the memories that rest in our hearts. That way we can remember each other."

"Do you think that will actually work?" Sonya asked.

I nodded, "I have complete confidence in C. If anybody can get back our memories, it's her."

"Okay," Sonya said, then sat on the ground cross-legged. She blew a piece of hair out of her face and she looked at me, then smiled, "Coming or not?"

I laughed and sat on the ground.

C clapped her hands together and sat down too. She placed one of her hands on my head and the other on Sonya's head. At first nothing, then a single vibration went through my body and I felt my body start to numb.

C started to speak, "Here we go."

Suddenly, my eyes went blank and I felt a rush of wind blow around us. It was a swirling vortex. I'm not sure if Galen could feel it, but I was sure that it must've disturbed something. It was a massive presence in the Force. At least to me it was.

Those thoughts completely vanished as vivid images started to appear.

* * *

 _I stood in the corner of a room, my right leg backwards against a wall and my arms crossed across my chest. I was wearing the red shirt and blue jeans again, but I wasn't in my head. No, I was somewhere completely different._

 _I looked around at where I was and was shocked to see what I found._

 _Furniture was all over the room. There was a holo-vid playing over to my left in front of a silver couch with dark blue cushions. There was a small coffee table in front of the couch. The room itself was very big and I realized it was the living room, or whatever it was called. There was a matching chair in the corner of the room and there was a holo-newspaper laid across a small table next to it._

 _Someone lived here._

 _Suddenly, laughs caught my ears._

 _I looked ahead to the hall that was too the left and I saw a little boy with brown hair and hazel eyes run out from it and tumble onto the ground into the middle of the room. For a moment, he lay dazed, blinking his eyes rapidly, then he broke into a wide smile._

 _He couldn't have been more than five years old from how he looked. He stood up and looked back down the hall. I couldn't see down it, but I deduced that someone was down there. Someone was chasing him._

 _He was playing a game._

 _"_ _You'll never catch me!" He said in a sing song voice and ran out of sight of whoever was in the hall. He dashed over to where the coffee table was and darted under it. I could see his hands come up to his mouth in an effort to stifle his laughs._

 _I remained where I was and I felt a laugh coming on. It was funny to watch the kid run around._

 _I turned back to the hall as another small form appeared. It was a little girl, around the same age, with light brown hair that reached a little past her shoulders and shining green-blue eyes. She ran into the room and stopped, looking for the boy._

 _She suddenly smiled, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"_

 _I watched as the boy stifle even more laughter._

 _The little girl suddenly pouted, "Come on, Blazy, please?"_

 _Blazy?_

 _The boy didn't budge._

 _I fought the urge to laugh and watched it unfold._

 _The girl suddenly sunk to the ground and started to cry. That surprised me, but I figured out the game almost a second later. She was trying to bait the boy out into the open._

 _She was smart._

 _And, it worked._

 _The boy crawled out from where he was and walked over to the little girl, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't cry, Sonya."_

 _Did I hear right? Did the little boy say Sonya? Were those two a version of me and Sonya as kids? After all, she did call the boy Blazy. Was that a nickname back then? Whenever then actually was._

 _The little girl flashed a smile and tackled him to the ground and sat on his stomach and looked into his eyes. She laughed and threw her hands up into the air, "I won! I won! I won!"_

 _"_ _Aw, you cheated!" The boy complained._

 _The little girl wagged a finger in his face, "Nu uh, I was all sneaky like."_

 _"_ _That's cheating!" The boy exclaimed, then flipped her over and was on top of her, "Now I win!"_

 _"_ _Nu uh, now you cheated!" She giggled despite her position._

 _The little boy got off of her and helped her to her feet. The little girl enveloped him in a hug, "I love you, Blazy. Promise me we'll always be friends. Forever, right?"_

 _The boy hugged her back, "We'll always be friends, I promise."_

 _"_ _What do you promise on?" The little girl asked._

 _The little boy thought for a moment before smiling, "On me. I promise on me that we'll always be friends."_

 _The little girl giggled, "Now, promise you'll never move away. Then we can play together forever!"_

 _The little boy nodded vigorously and smiled, "I promise that I'll never move away! Besides, I can't move away. Mommy says we should've lived here a long time ago. I love it here!"_

 _"_ _Me too!" The girl giggled and took his hand, "Come on. Let's do that again!"_

 _The boy didn't fight as he was led back into the hallway. They were gone within a few seconds, but I could still hear their laughter all the way from the room they were in._

 _I pushed myself off the wall and I fell to my knees where they were. I could feel them both in the Force, but I could also feel something stirring in the Force._

 _I knew what I'd just witnessed was a forgotten memory. Sonya and I had known each other for so long. But, we were only five in the memory. I reached out my hand and touched the ground, feeling a jolt from it immediately._

 _"_ _Oh, why did they make me forget?" I whispered into the room._

 _I felt tears accumulating in my eyes, "Why am_ _ **I**_ _so important?"_

 _The room suddenly turned white and it disappeared. I suddenly found myself being flung backwards. I craned my neck and looked behind me. There was a small, golden light that was steadily getting brighter._

 _As I reached the light, I felt my body relax and I felt the world around me start to come back together._

 _The memory had ended._

* * *

I opened my eyes to find myself in darkness. I then realized I was on my back, but I was on something very comfortable.

I sat up and cringed as my back popped.

 _Stupid bones._ I complained silently and looked around in the dark. I closed my eyes and reached out with the Force and found the light switch. Turning it on, I found myself in my room on my mattress. I looked at the nightstand and saw my lightsaber laid on it.

I turned to the door that was to Sonya's room and I saw C leaning against it, snoring softly.

She immediately woke up when she felt my eyes one her, "Hello, Blaze."

I stood up and walked over to her, "What was that? When was that, is the question I should be asking."

"That was eleven years ago, Blaze." She said, then stopped, then started again, "Yes, your real name is Blaze, but your last name isn't Marko. It's Nion. Anyway, that was a memory of you and Sonya playing together as little kids."

I gave a small smile, "We looked happy."

"She loves you, you know?" C prompted.

I felt my eyes widen, "What? You mean then, right?"

C shrugged, a smile finding its way across her lips, "Then _and_ now. She's always loved you, Blaze. She just forgot about loving you. Then you came back and it ignited something in her and she loved you even though she didn't know you, or remember you."

"You mean love as in family?" I asked.

"No." C said, "Not that kind of love. She loves you Blaze like you've come to love her." She saw the surprised face I made and she gave a mischievous smile, "Did you think I wasn't watching you on Hoth?"

I blushed and shuffled my feet nervously, "No, I didn't. I didn't even know who you were at the time."

"Blaze, the memory you just experienced is different from the one she did." C said, then motioned to the other room with her head, "So, in the morning, she'll tell you about hers and you about yours."

"But, why didn't we see the same thing?" I asked.

C shrugged, "It was the will of the Force. I just unlocked the memories."

I yawned, "Is she asleep?"

C nodded and tapped my forehead affectionately, "Yes, and you should be asleep too."

"Maybe you're right." I said, then walked to the bed and jumped in it, throwing a blanket over myself and closing my eyes.

I felt a hand on my head a few seconds later and C's presence disappeared from the physical world and back into my mind. It was only a second, but I saw a white light flash before my eyes. The comforting touch of C's presence suddenly reappeared and I smiled, completely comfortable.

As I started to drift into unconsciousness, I felt the Force stir again. There were many things I wasn't sure of. Some I even was afraid of. Yet, in spite of all that, I felt calm. I felt that even though the life I had known was a lie, I could now make it right. I could rewrite history. Both the history of the galaxy and my history. I would find out who I was and I would find out how to stop the Empire, and maybe even redeem Vader in the process.

But, now, all I wanted to do was sleep.

Just before I fell asleep, I could hear Sonya's voice in my head. It wasn't the little Sonya's voice, no, it was the teenage Sonya's voice. I knew she was projecting her feelings aloud, even if she didn't know she was.

 _"_ _I love you, Blazy."_

I smiled as darkness engulfed me.

 _"_ _I love you too, Sonya."_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! Hope it clears a few things up! And I hope you review! Thanks!**


	9. Chapter IX: Full Circle

**C** **hapter** **IX** **: Full Circle**

 ** _"Break! Away from everybody! Break! Away from everything! If you can't stand! The way this place is! Take! Yourself! To higher places!" Three Days Grace-Break._**

There wasn't much of a daytime in space, so it wasn't correct to say that the rays of the sun made me wake up. Apparently, the _Home One_ had moved in a circular position and now the viewport on my window was in the direct lining of the galaxy's core, or whatever core it was in a path with. We _were_ above the Galactic Plane after all. The rays of the bright core flashed through the viewport and right into my eyes.

At first, I struggled against the blinding light, but I realized it must've been time to get up. For the ship to completely circulate, it would've had to move very slowly, so, most likely, a few hours had passed.

Groaning, I threw my legs over the side of the bed and made my way to the refresher. After that, I stumbled to my side table and grabbed my lightsaber, then clicked it to my waist. I checked my wrist comm. and saw that there was a message.

I clicked the button and the message replayed back.

 _"Blaze."_ It was Galen. _"When you get this message, I need you to report to the hangar bay with Sonya. Marek out."_

The transmission ended and I gave a short huff, "But, I'm hungry."

I knew that I wasn't really hungry. The rush of adrenaline that had passed through me the past day or two was enough to quench that hunger. As I tried to figure out the last time I actually ate, I pulled my hand up to my chin in thought.

"I guess I ate on the Stardestroyer." I mused to myself, then remembered the message, "Got to report to Galen."

I walked over to the door to Sonya's room and I felt the impulse to knock. I gave a snort at that fact of knocking and I pushed the opening button. As the door slid open, I felt Sonya's presence in the Force flicker and then radiate as the door opened fully.

It was radiating with happiness.

I looked ahead at Sonya, who was clipping on her combat belt. She had just clipped the buckle when she saw me. Her face lit up and she smiled widely, "Blaze!"

She ran over to me and I opened my arms. Not completely sure why, but I did.

Sonya laughed and threw herself into my arms. As I hugged her, I felt her gentle touch in the Force. It wasn't intentional, or maybe it was, but I didn't care. It was still there.

"Someone's happy to see me." I said.

Sonya looked up into my eyes and smiled, "I am. Whoever that woman was, she did it. I saw you and me. I remember, Blaze."

I nodded, a swirl in the pit of my stomach, "Yeah, me too. What did you see?"

Sonya smiled wistfully, "We were little, about eight years old. We were playing with a few of our friends and we were running through a field. We were playing tag and you were it. You chased me, but we tripped and we fell down the hill and landed on top of each other. We both got up, hugged, and then you told me I was it." There was a gleam in her eye, "You cheated."

I laughed as the memory I experienced came to mind, "Ha, well, in my memory, I saw that we _both_ cheated. But, you cheated first."

Sonya looked aghast, "I did not! If anything, you must've."

"Me?" I asked, my voice trying to be innocent.

"Yes, you." She said, giggling, then poked me in the chest with one of her hands, "Now, tell me about the memory you saw."

I smiled and thought about it, "We were five. We were chasing each other through this big room, I'm guessing that I lived there and we were playing together. I hid and you pretended to cry to draw me out. And, with me being such a gentleman…" I stopped for a second as Sonya snickered, "…came to help you. You tackled me to the ground and said that you got me. Then I flipped you over and I won. Then we ran back off into another room."

Sonya laughed, "So, we _both_ cheated."

I shrugged, "Yeah, but I only cheated because you did first."

Sonya giggled and winked at me, "Such a baby."

"Uh," I cleared my throat as I felt my cheeks heat up, "Galen contacted me a few minutes ago. He wanted us to come by the hangar when we were completely ready."

Sonya nodded, then walked over to a small, glass table and grabbed two packaged rectangles about the size of a granola bar. She started to open one when she suddenly tossed the other one over to me. I caught the small package and turned it over to read it, only to find it in basic.

"New ration bar." Sonya said, opening hers and taking a bite. She made a soft _mmm_ sound and I raised an eyebrow.

"That good?" I asked.

Sonya nodded vigorously and motioned for me to try.

I opened the wrapper and took a bite. At first, nothing, then, in a burst of sweet and salty flavor, it all came together.

Sonya smiled at me, "See, told you. It's that good."

I swallowed, "Heck yeah! That is delicious." I took another bite and then moved to my room I was at the door frame when I swallowed and Force pulled my boots to my unoccupied hand.

Sonya slung her rifle over her shoulder and secured three extra magazines of ammo around her belt. She suddenly bent down, pulled up her pant leg, and grabbed a small, side arm pistol from her boot. She slid it into a holster on her hip and turned back to me as I finished putting on my boots.

I stood up and cracked a smile, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Yeah, let's go see the general."

I walked back into her room and over to the door to the hall. As I hit the opening button, I smirked, "Ladies first."

The gesture, a smirk filled with mirth, was reciprocated and she walked out, "Thank you, _Commander_."

I laughed, "Come on. Down to the hangar we go."

* * *

Sonya and I were walking into the hangar when I felt something stirring in the Force. Again, it was a feeling that seemed shrouded. Much _too_ shrouded. In fact, it almost felt hidden. Or, at least, trying to be hidden.

I stopped walking and looked around, probing with the Force. As my gaze rested on a certain part of the hangar, my senses went crazy.

Sonya saw me stop walking and she turned around to face me, "Blaze?"

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to focus on the one part of the hangar that got me all riled up.

"Coming?" She asked, inclining her head as she did so, as I could see out of the corner of my eye.

I nodded absently, "One minute…just got a feeling."

"Like on Hoth?" She asked, a certain tone of distress coming over her voice.

Then I realized this wasn't the best time to be searching out a ship with the Force. Turning to her completely. I smiled, "Nah, just me thinking?"

"About what?"

"Doesn't matter." I said, then continued walking. Sonya regarded me for a moment before she followed.

We walked past several X-wings and A-wings before finally coming up to the giant, black ship known as the _Rouge Shadow._

I looked around a little before putting a hand to the side of my mouth, "Galen?" I called, "Juno? You there!?"

"Seems empty." Sonya said.

I craned my neck and peered over to the other side of the ship. Sparks suddenly flew away in different directions on that side as a goggled figure came into view.

I laughed, "Galen! Come out from behind the hydrospanner!"

Galen took off his goggles and shut off his tool, "Oh, I didn't see you there, Blaze."

We walked over to where he was working and I saw a small, black box attached to the bottom of the ship. It couldn't have been larger than a sandwich holder, but it looked like it had more tech in it than a bridge access panel.

"What's this?" I asked, pointing at the box.

Galen smirked, "It's an upgrade for the stealth crystal. The box sends an electromagnetic signal past the gull and into the crystal, enhancing the long-term stealth abilities. At least, that's what it's supposed to do."

"Dang." I blew out a whistle through my lips, "Some work." Then, I refocused, "I got your message."

"Good." Galen said, then turned to Sonya, "Are you sure you want to come along?"

Sonya blinked, confused, "What?"

"I'm just offering you a way out. Right now. If you're not up for it, then either I or Juno can go with Blaze" Galen said, dead serious.

I gave a grin, "She's coming with. She's got my back. Right, Sonya?"

Sonya nodded, "Of course, I do. I'm going, General Galen."

Galen clicked his tongue, "Just making sure."

"Galen, what's going on?" I asked, already knowing that something was up. There was something in the tone of his voice that made me question the Jedi Knight.

Galen sighed, "Fine. I've had time to thing about the mission…and I just needed to know if you were up for this, Sonya."

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Sonya asked.

I shook my head and made a wave with my hand, "It's gonna be packed to the brim once we're there. And we don't know if there are any Imperials in the area." _Which they are._

"So?" Sonya shrugged, "I'm up for it. Nothing's getting in the way of us." She locked an arm around mine and smiled, "Right, Blazy?"

There was a deafening pause.

"Blazy?"

That was Galen.

I felt myself blush, "Uh, yeah. Back on—"

"Galen?!" A female's voice ran from inside the _Rouge Shadow,_ interrupting me at the same time, "Galen?!"

"Yeah, Juno?" He called back.

Juno walked out in a black flight suit with the zipper on the chest down slightly for breathability, revealing a solid white tank top underneath. It resembled the flight suit she wore when she was in the Empire.

"The Enbox just synced with the crystal and the stealth mode of the ship just went through one heck of a tune-up." She said, then saw me and Soya, "Oh, hi Blaze, Sonya. Galen already give you the details of the mission?"

"Just about aborting." I said wryly.

Juno gave a soft laugh, "So, he did, huh? I hope you declined. This mission is perfect for the two of you."

"How so?" Sonya asked.

"You two are just small enough to get through the air ducts to get into the building we're dropping you off at." Juno said in one breath.

"Air ducts?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Juno said, then turned to Galen and pat his shoulder, "Come on, Galen." She then turned to us, "You too."

I nodded and we both followed them into the Rogue Shadow. It was only a minute, or less, before we started to hover above the hangar floor and another few seconds before we shot out of the hangar completely. As I leaned back in the third seat of the cockpit, I let the Force flow through me, penetrating my entire being.

Right until a hand smacked me upside my head.

At first, I felt nothing but anger. It completely clouded my vision and I bit back a snarl.

"Hey!"

Galen frowned, "No, none of that. I know how easily the Force comes to you, but Vader will be counting on that. Even if he is far away from Bespin, he'll sense you tapping into the Force and he'll track you down."

Still angry, I frowned right back and rubbed my head, "I could've done without the smack, you know?"

Galen's face softened, "Sorry, but didn't have much of a choice. Nothing came to mind."

"Well," I suddenly felt embarrassed for my outburst, "uh, don't smack me."

"I'll keep that in mind if you refrain from using the Force unless absolutely necessary."

I nodded, "I'll try." Then I closed my eyes, relishing in the darkness that surrounded my vision, "But, I can't make any promises."

"You can meditate." I heard Galen suggest, "But, you just can't let the Force flow around you like you normally do." There was a pause, then he spoke again, but not to me. "Go, Juno. I'll put in the coordinates."

I sighed and thought of what awaited me at Bespin. Of course, timing had never been my strong suit, but I'd guessed that we'd be somewhere about the time when Han and the others were being transitioned to the Carbon-Freezing Chamber. If not then, then we'd have a little bit of a disadvantage.

Vader was strong and I had only had a couple of days back in the galaxy. I knew he was too strong for me. On Hoth, I could sense that darkness around him…but also a shred of the light.

I recalled that in the movie, Sidious told Vader of Luke Skywalker's identity. So, naturally, with Luke being his son, a shred of Anakin Skywalker was awakened in that moment.

 _He is more machine now then man. Twisted and evil._

I remember Obi Wan saying that on Dagobah.

But, I knew he could still be redeemed. The events on the Death Star II proved just that. Though, the events leading up to that hadn't happened yet.

 _There is still good in him._

Padme and Luke said that.

And, they were right.

But, how long did it take to get him back from the darkness? Twenty-three years. It greatly outnumbered his years as a Jedi. Yet, he was still able to be redeemed.

Maybe _I_ was to help redeem him?

Maybe Luke was, but _I_ stop Vader's death?

I sighed deeply. _Everything is so confusing._

But, I knew what I had to do.

That was to go to Bespin. If the _Falcon_ was there, and I knew it would be, then so would my friends. I just hoped they didn't have to go through the same pain as Han did. It made me angry just to think about it.

The entire ride through hyperspace took all of forty-five minutes thanks to the location of the Rendezvous Point and the _Rogue Shadow's_ hyperdrive. As the orange gas planet came into view, I clenched the sides of the chair I was sitting in once I felt a familiar presence. Shrouded or not, I'd never forget it.

 _Terra's here._

Other than my capture, she also took my friends hostage and sent more of them to different parts of the galaxy. So, it was an understatement to say that I wasn't happy. I was angry. I could feel my hands start to shake as my knuckles turned white.

"Blaze, are you alright?" Galen asked suddenly.

I loosened the grip on my chair and forced a nod, "I'm fine."

Juno pulled the ship down into the planet's atmosphere. Within seconds, I saw Cloud City in all its floating glory. The buildings that rested atop the huge structure were part of the Fifty Levels and I grinned as I saw hundreds of people walking through the streets, completely complacent with their life.

"Activating stealth." Juno said as she turned a nob and flipped a switch.

A few seconds later, Galen chuckled, "Force, I didn't think it would turn the ship invisible."

"We're invisible?" Sonya asked, peering out the viewport.

Juno nodded, "Apparently so. The electromagnetic wave enhanced the stealth as far as radar protection, but it seems that the excess power was diverted out of the core and completely cloaked the ship."

"Sweet." I muttered.

Galen suddenly spoke, "We're here."

He angled the ship next to a large, almost cylindrical building with multiple higher points—resembling small towers or special dwarf spires—and hundreds of windows.

The thought that this was only a small part of Bespin made me want to chuckle. This was only part of the Fifty Levels. The other four hundred rested below the groundwork.

"The _Falcon!_ " Juno exclaimed abruptly, shattering my thoughts.

I jumped out of my seat and looked forward. Ahead, on platform 327, was the famous YT-1300 Corellian Space Freighter: The _Millennium Falcon._

"That _is_ the _Falcon_!" I said happily, then judged the distance between the two structures. "Galen, can you pull us over to just above the vent over by the _Falcon?_ "

"The one above the entrance to the platform?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, there."

He did as I asked and pulled us about twenty to thirty feet above the door. I ran to the ramp and clicked the lowering button just as Sonya came up behind me with Galen.

"Okay, find Han and the others and contact me when you have. Then, give me a location of where you all will be going after you leave with them. We'll be out of range, but we'll be watching the _Falcon_ from a distance. Got it?" Galen said, locking a piercing gaze on me.

With no doubt whatsoever and a surge of adrenaline starting to rush through my veins, I gave a nod to the Jedi, "Don't worry, Galen. I got it."

He turned to Sonya, "Got it?"

She nodded, "Yes, sir."

"May the Force be with you two and good luck." He said, then we moved.

I walked to the edge of the ramp and touched the vent. It was bolted, but only slightly so. I grabbed the bars holding it in place and pulled backward until it ripped from the wall. After putting them on the ramp, I climbed in, followed by Sonya. Her rifle barely fit, but other than that it was smooth sailing.

After a good five minutes of crawling through the vents, we reached another vent entrance. This one was bolted more tightly and, in the space we were in, I couldn't pull upwards or I'd bash my hands against the top of the vent.

Sonya squeezed in between my side, "What's the hold up?" She whispered.

Noting how closely she was to me, I cleared my throat, "Vent's jammed."

She reached into her belt and pulled out the only thing I recognized from this galaxy and Earth, "Screwdriver?"

"Thanks." I said, taking the tool and unscrewing the bolts in the vent. After the last one was out, I put the six bolts in my pocket and gently pulled up the vent's metal casing, making it creak slightly.

I winced, "Hope no one heard that."

"Probably not." Sonya whispered back.

 _I know Vader or Terra might sense this, but I've got to check the hall we're about to drop into_. I thought before closing my eyes and gently touching the Force. In the small touch, I felt out the hall. After about fifteen seconds of searching, I was satisfied that no one was there. I nodded to Sonya, "Down we go."

I slid out face first and pushed my hands out and fell into a handstand. I quickly got to my feet and looked down the white hallway. We were far away from the platform, but I wasn't sure how far from the Carbon-Freezing Chamber.

I suddenly felt two things.

One, I felt a strong rush of disbelief and sadness through the Force. I immediately recognized it as Leia.

"Han." I whispered. He must've just been frozen. That left only minutes before Luke arrived on the scene and went to face his Vader. _His father._

Two, I felt Terra's unmistakable Force signature.

But, both made me disconnect from the Force.

I turned back to the vent as Sonya dropped out of it. She landed the same way I did and quickly righted herself. She took her rifle in her hands and held it at the ready, "Any guards?"

"No, but the Empire's here." I said flatly.

Sonya's face looked confused, "How do you know?"

I tapped my head and unclipped my lightsaber, but didn't ignite it, "I felt it. Vader's here too, so be very careful and stay close."

"Gotcha, Commander." She said and we started to move along the walls.

After we made it to the end of the hall, I peered down the next and saw nothing. The halls were strangely empty.

We continued to walk on for several more minutes, always watching our backs to make sure we weren't being followed. The last thing we needed was someone saying that two people were sneaking around the halls. The empty halls to be more specific.

 _That would really suck._ I thought as I checked another hall, "We're good."

As we walked down the empty hall, I felt a twinge in the Force and I stopped. Sonya looked at me questioningly before I picked up the pace and approached the next hallway. I already knew what was on the other side. I peered around the corner to get a look at my target.

It was a security wing guard.

He was a young man, about twenty or so, with dark brown hair that was cut short military style. It was mostly concealed by the cap he was wearing. He was in a light gray suit with a holster on the side of his belt. The gun was a Relby K23 blaster pistol and it was firmly grasped in his hand.

He looked like he took his job seriously.

"What is—" Sonya started.

I blocked her out as the guard came around the corner and looked at me. He froze for a minute and that was all I needed to move. I dashed forward and smacked the gun out of his hand and delivered a kick to the side of his leg. He would've called out, but I held a hand over his mouth as I wrapped an arm around her neck as he fell to his knees.

I squeezed till I thought I had enough pressure and let oxygen deprivation do the rest. The guard tried to fight me off with his other hand, but he only was successful in flailing around.

It wasn't right to do this, but I couldn't let him sound the alarm.

His flailing suddenly stopped and he went limp. I gently placed him down and grabbed his gun and tucked it into the back of my belt. I grabbed his body and dragged it out of the hall and over to a door. I opened it and laid him down on the floor inside, then turned back to Sonya.

"Is he—" She trailed off.

I shook my head, "No, he's very much alive. But, he's very much unconscious right now. And we'd better move before more guards appear."

Sonya nodded and moved to the hall where the guard came from. After she looked down it, she looked back to me, "Clear."

I nodded and resumed point. We kept walking until we came to a series of lifts. I remembered where they went and made sure to remember them in the future. After we walked past them, we turned another corner and into a long, narrow, white hallway with a fountain at the end.

We were halfway down it when I heard talking.

I took a step back, "Terra."

"Who?" Sonya whispered, stopping too.

I turned back to the entrance of the hall, "Go! Go around the hall and to the other side of the next hall. Soon, you'll see a man and a cyborg and a team of Stormtroopers leading the princess and Chewbacca away in a minute or two, maybe longer. You follow them and when they are freed, you tell them that I sent you. Can you do that?"

Sonya looked shocked, "W-What?"

"Can you do that?!" I asked quickly.

She didn't know how to respond and I turned back to the end of the hallway where I felt five signatures coming in fast. It was Terra and her Stormtroopers. I could feel them.

"Please, Sonya!" I said, taking her hands and looking into her eyes, "We're about to get jumped and I need you to help me. Please, can you do that?"

She looked into my eyes and nodded. I sighed, "Then go."

"But, Blaze, what about you?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly.

I cracked a small smile, despite what was happening, "Hey, it's me."

Sonya nodded and leaned up, kissing my cheek. She laughed sadly, then poked me in the chest, "You better get back in one piece."

I nodded, "I'll try."

She turned away from me and ran down to the entrance of the hall and then turned right. She was doing it. I turned right back to the end of the hall and I felt a drip of sweat go down my face as I saw white flash before my eyes.

It was Terra.

Terra, completely engrossed in her conversation, only realized my presence when they reached the fountain.

Then I saw something flash before her eyes.

It was definitely surprise, but also something else. Happiness? What had she to be happy with?

Her face suddenly contorted to anger, "Blaze?"

I realized she knew my real name, but I blew it off, "Surprised to see me alive?"

A flash of something crossed her features and completely washed away the anger. Then, I realized, it wasn't anger. It was sadness, but also that same flash of happiness. There was something I was missing. But, at the moment, I found I didn't care.

I ignited my lightsaber, the blue blade shooting out from my hilt and I dropped back into a defensive form as the troopers raised their weapons. They didn't even fire before I detached one of my hands off my hilt and pulled the Relby, the gun I stole from the guard, from my back. I raised the gun up and closed one eye. Three of the four troops fell within three seconds and the last one fired off a shot before a similar one went through his head.

I ducked the bolt he fired and then tucked the gun back behind my belt. The trooper's bodies littered the ground beside Terra as she looked at me.

She suddenly let out a large breath of air, as if she was relieved.

I let my lightsaber hang at my side as I took a few steps forward, "You're not getting away this time, Terra."

She suddenly looked behind her and saw something. She then turned to me, "Blaze! Go!"

I was shocked. She was telling me to run? Wasn't she my enemy?

"I don't know what you're playing at, but it's not going to work." I growled, right before a force of about fifteen Stormtroopers filed in behind her, "Aw, crap!"

I turned around, but saw that four more had cleared up the rear. At first, I half expected Sonya to shoot them from where she was hiding, but then again, I told her to stay hidden. I was out of options.

"James!"

I heard a shout from a very familiar voice. I looked to the four behind me as I saw a green lightsaber flash out from behind them and slice two across the back. The next two suddenly fell as two blaster bolts penetrated their skin.

I felt joy erupt in my chest, "Dave! Ben!"

Dave leaped over to me and put on a defensive stance, the lightsaber, now green, was held out in front of him as he smirked at me, "Didn't think I'd see you again, did you?"

"No I didn't, buddy." I felt like crying and laughing at the same time.

Ben ran up and aimed his gun at the troops while smiling, "Me neither?"

"No!" I said, the focused back on the troops, "But, I'm glad you're here."

"Us too." They both said as Terra backed up, a sad frown on her face. Something inside me sparked and I saw something flash before my eyes.

* * *

 _It was the same room from my memory earlier, just a little brighter. Everything had stayed the same, even the couch cushions, but there was something else in the air. The Force, most likely._

 _I looked down from the same spot I was propped on last time and saw my little self on the floor, playing with some type of toy. He couldn't have been more than eight years old, but he was playing with a different type of toy. He was constantly switching and changing parts on it and that triggered something else to move._

 _He was so engulfed in it that he didn't even realize it when a little girl, not Sonya, came up behind him and hugged him from the behind._

 _"Blaze!" She giggled._

 _Blaze smiled and hugged back as best he could from the behind, "Hi, sis."_

 _The little girl laughed again, "Play with me."_

 _Blaze nodded, "In a minute."_

 _"No, now." The little girl said, still giggling, "Please, Blaze?" She put on a puppy dog face._

 _Blaze relented and stood up, "Okay, Myra, you show me where to go."_

 _"Okeydokey." She laughed and took his hand, leading him out of the room. As they left, I walked to where they were and felt the ground. I felt my own signature, but also the little girl's. Not only did I have a sister, but it was someone I knew._

 _I fell backwards as I jumped away from the signature._

 _"Holy crap!" I muttered, then face planted._

 _Myra was my sister._

 _But, Myra was Terra!_

* * *

I suddenly found myself back where I was before, standing in front of the troopers with Dave and Ben by my side and with Terra ahead of me. She found my gaze and I felt her reach out with the Force. It was a touch and I felt her feelings inside it. I could also feel her sorrow for what she'd done. I could also feel she just found out a little bit ago and she was very sorry.

It was amazing what you could feel from a simple _touch_.

Even though I was angry, I gave almost a nod in her direction.

Then the shot went off.

It soared through the air and struck Ben in the chest. He wasn't moving forward, so his momentum wasn't there and he flew backwards and slumped against the ground, unmoving. He wasn't even twitching.

My heart started racing, "BEN!"

Dave shouted too, but he was charging at the troopers, his lightsaber blazing in the white hall. Shot after shot he deflected until Terra jumped into the center of the huddle and ignited her lightsaber. Her troops were bewildered for a moment before she spun around, slicing all of them through the waist.

Dave didn't stop though. He kept charging. Right for Terra.

Terra brought her blade up and the two started to duel. Dave struck high and Terra blocked his attack. The two spun around the hall, slashing at each other. It was mostly Dave who was doing the attacking and Terra was more trying to block than attack. I assumed it had something to do with her recent revelation, whatever that was.

I reached my hand out and pulled Dave back with the Force. He landed roughly on his back and his lightsaber fell from his grip. I called it to my hand and reignited the emerald blade. I jumped in front of his prone form and blocked a would-be-death strike from Terra.

I pushed off the attack and pointed both blades at her while looking at Dave, "Check Ben!"

Dave got to his feet and ran to Ben, completely forgetting about his weapon. I turned back to Terra, "Back down, Myra!"

Terra—or rather Myra—stared at me for a second before she smiled and tears started to accumulate in her eyes. She let her lightsaber fall out of her grip and deactivate on the ground, all the while looking into my eyes.

"Don't take another step!" I growled out.

Myra stopped with a surprised look on her face, but she nodded meekly and stopped where she was.

I shut off both blades and ran over to where Dave was with Ben. I bent down to the floor and looked at Dave, who had a frown on his face.

I looked at Ben and at the gaping hole in his chest, "Ben…"

He choked and I saw a stream of blood running from his mouth, "I'm out…"

"No." I said, "Stay with us Ben. You can't die."

Ben shook his head weakly, "Can't…Darkness everywhere."

Dave looked distraught, "Ben…hold on. We'll get you out of here." He looked to me, but I shook my head. I knew it was too late.

I was about to lose a friend. _No…NO!_

Ben managed a weak smile, "I…I can't think of a joke, Jamie."

I chuckled sadly and felt tears burn at the back of my eyes, "It's completely fine, my friend. You saved me. I-I promise I will never forget it. Thank you."

Ben closed his eyes, "Y-Your welcome…"

Then he took his last breath.

And Ben was gone.


	10. Chapter X: Destined Duel

**Had this chapter for a super long time and gonna just post this one and the last one today to finish out the first part. Second part is on hiatus though for now, but it's not cancelled. I haven't had enough inspiration to continue it though.**

 **Anways, enjoy!**

* * *

 **C** **hapter** **X** **: Destined Duel**

 ** _"_** ** _Not gonna die tonight; we're gonna stand and fight forever!" Skillet-Not Gonna Die_**

"No…"

I stared at Ben's unmoving form on the ground. Even though it had just happened, it didn't seem real. It was like a bad dream. A gaping hole in his chest and a small smile on his face. That was how he went out. But, he went out saving me.

"No…"

I felt tears prickled at my eyes, but I was too shocked to let them fall. I was too sad to let them fall. But, most of all, I was too angry to let them fall. It didn't matter if I wasn't from Earth, all that mattered was that I lived there. I made friends. And now one of them was dead at my feet.

I closed my eyes and reopened them, but he was still there. He was still gone. It wasn't a bad dream.

It was a bad _reality._

Dave had a similar reaction to mine, but he let a single tear fall for his friend. Ben had been his friend for longer than he had been mine, so the loss was probably larger for him.

"I'm so sorry, Ben." I whispered. _Ben…no…Damn it…_

"My lightsaber." Dave choked out and held his hand out to me. I placed the identical hilt in his hand and he clipped it to his belt, a look of pure sorrow on his face.

I'd gone through a lot in the last few days, but this was the icing on the cake. This was the thing that was too much. I was done playing around.

I stood up and looked at Myra, "How could you?!"

Myra flinched, "I'm so sorry…I didn't—"

I walked closer and ground my teeth together, "You didn't kill him?! Yes you did! Your men did! They were _your_ men!"

Myra shrunk back and this reminded me of the little girl in my vision. Sure, they were one in the same, but the appearance difference, along with the signature, was a complete contrast.

"Yes…they were my men." She said solemnly, ducking her head, "But, I-I…"

"What?" I laughed, feeling more tears in my eyes and anger rising in my chest. "You killed _them?_! Yeah, but a little too late!"

Tears accumulated in Myra's eyes and she sniffed, "I-I'm so sorry, Blaze…But, I found you."

"What do you mean? Didn't you know it was me the whole time?" I asked, my tone still sharp as a spike.

Myra shook her head, "Sidious…when you left all those years ago, he told me that he shot your ship down and you had died. That's when he broke me. When he told me that my brother was dead! He then told me yesterday that you lived and you were back…" She sunk to her knees as tears flowed freely from her eyes, "I-I'm so s-sorry for hurting you…And for your friend."

I took a sharp breath and reached out into the Force.

 ** _"_** ** _She speaks the truth, you know? She really is sorry."_**

 _I don't care, C. She captured me—_ I thought before C cut me off.

 ** _"_** ** _Under orders. She didn't know who you were. She thought you were just some boy that Palpatine wanted for another apprentice. She had no idea she was going after her brother."_**

 _Then how did she find out?_ I thought, then felt a ping of shock. _You? You came to her? You told her, but not me?_

 ** _"_** ** _You had just gone through remembering Sonya. I didn't think you needed to go through knowing this truth yet, but the Force thought you did. I told her through a combination of playing with Palpatine's mind in order to let her know because I thought she could prove useful in ensuring another ally."_**

 _But, instead, she killed one._

 ** _"_** ** _Her men did. She killed them for that."_**

"I don't care!" I shouted and Myra let out a whimper of surprise.

Myra grabbed her lightsaber and threw it over to my feet, "Then end it." She whispered, more tears coming down her face.

"What?" I asked, my anger fading into confusion as I looked at the hilt at my feet.

"End it…" She said, her voice cracking, "Mom and Dad died for us! I thought I lost you, the only family I had left! And I hurt you…I hurt your friends…I am responsible for killing one of them…"

"And so you want me to kill _you_?" I asked, appalled by the mere thought of killing her. I may have been angry, but not so much as to kill her. "Are you insane?"

She shook her head, "No…just sad. I'm sad I hurt you and your friends. I'm sad I bought into Sidious' lies. I shouldn't be…I shouldn't be allowed to hurt anybody else…"

I walked over to Myra and bent down to her level. She looked up into my eyes and I saw that they were a dark green. She sniffed as she looked into my eyes and I felt complete conviction in her presence.

"I won't do it." I whispered, then pulled her to me and held her. Her body riddled with sobs as she broke down. I ran my hand through her blonde hair as I whispered, "I won't do it…"

"Please…I-I hurt people…I-I…" She sobbed.

" _I_ don't care…" I said, realizing that she was the only family I had left. Even through she'd been under the Sith's evil influence, I could tell that she was trying to turn away from it. I suddenly felt shocked, "It was a charade, wasn't it? You were just pretending to be angry and evil minutes ago, weren't you?"

"Yes…" She whispered, hugging me tight, "I never meant…"

"For anything to happen." I said, finishing her thought.

"And now…I cost you a friend." She cried.

I nodded, "You did. And I'm angry, but I now know that you're my sister. I know that our mom and dad are gone and you're the only family I have left."

"Blaze…" She looked up at me, not believing her ears, "Can you forgive me? P-Please, I want my brother back."

I gently rubbed her back, stifling her sobs in the process, "I forgive you…I forgive you…I just need you to come with us." Her eyes flashed with happiness and I continued, "I need you to leave the Empire. I promise you'll be safe."

"How can you do this!?" I heard behind me.

I turned to see a very mad Dave. He was standing right beside Ben's body and I felt immense anger pulsating off of him. His eyes were narrowed to slits, "Don't you even care about what she's done!?"

I nodded, "I do. But, I can't neglect the fact that I'm from this galaxy and she's my sister."

"I get that now." He growled out, then ignited his lightsaber, "But, she has to pay for what she's done."

I stood up immediately and ignited my own cyan colored blade, "Don't do this Dave. You'll just be playing right into the Dark Side's hands."

"She killed Ben!" Dave shouted.

"I know!" I shouted back, "But she doesn't deserve to die. And she killed who actually killed Ben. She killed her squad."

"But it was _her_ squad!" Dave snarled, "She could've stopped them."

"She couldn't have known that one of them was going to take a shot at him." I said.

"You're defending her!" He accused.

Sick of this pointless debate, I nodded curtly, "I am!"

"WHY?!"

"Because she's my sister!" I shouted and Dave faltered. I continued, "I know I just found out and I know she's done wrong, but she's the only family I have left! My family on Earth wasn't my real family." I pointed to Myra on the floor, " _She_ is my real family." I gave a sad look, "Dave, you've always been like a brother to me. Please, don't make me fight you."

"She has to see justice for Ben's death, you know that." He said and I sighed.

"She's suffered enough under Sidious. And, she'll have to live with Ben's death for the rest of her life. _That_ is her justice. _That_ is her punishment." I said, then shut off my blade, "And I'm not doing this with you. You are either with me or against me Dave, and I'm not too happy either and I will snap if you push me too far. So, what will it be?"

Dave had never seen this side of me before and he shut off his own blade. I knew he could see the truth in my eyes. I would fight him if it meant to stop this all.

And I would.

I looked to Myra, "Get up."

She did and I turned to Dave, "You need to sneak through the halls and find a girl named Sonya. She's going to be following Leia and Chewbacca and is going to jump in once Lando rescues them. You need to get in there. I presume you got away without Darth Vader noticing you?"

Dave nodded, "Right."

"Well, do it again." I said and he nodded again, "Go."

He lingered for a moment, a frown on his face and a glare pointed at Myra. I gave him a pointed look and he left, still angry with the situation. I couldn't blame him, but he needed to put aside those emotions for now.

My mother on Earth always said that you can't let your emotions rule your actions.

"What about me, Blaze?" Myra asked.

I turned to her and pointed a finger at her, "You will get to the _Falcon_ and contact the _Rogue Shadow."_

"How am I going to do that?" Myra asked.

I took off my wrist comm. and handed it to her, "Take this. The frequency is already in and tell the man, Galen Marek, that I sent you. Tell him that I'll explain everything later, but the situation has gotten out of hand and he needs to stay away for now."

Myra nodded, "Do I go now?"

I nodded, "Yes, go. I have to go a different way."

Myra held her arms out to me and gave me a smile. I looked at her for a moment before accepting the hug.

As we parted, I said, "We have a lot to talk about when we get out of here."

"You mean _if_ we get out of here." She muttered.

I chuckled, "Yeah, _if."_ I gave her one last squeeze then pushed her to the hall she needed to go down. She gave me one more glance before leaving.

I clipped my lightsaber to my belt and ran off in the opposite direction, down another hall and then made a turn, coming up on a large, central crossroad.

After a moment of debate, I took another path and ran up to the window on the end of the hall. My eyes widened as I saw Luke's X-wing over on a landing platform not too far away from where I was. I was almost there, but so was he.

I ran down the rest of the hall, all the while thinking of Dave, Ben, Ali, Myra, and Sonya. They all had done their part, but Ben had paid the ultimate price. Dave had been torn by his loyalties once I let Myra live. Everything wasn't going well at all. And the fight hadn't even started yet.

It was like this was just a prelude.

And I hated preludes.

A minute later, I arrived at the corner where Luke would get out and saw Boba Fett in his custom green armor. He had two men in front of him pushing a large, copper-ish looking long box. It was roughly six feet long and had a series of buttons and switches on the sides. Some were blinking and some were not.

"Han." I whispered to myself as I watched the bounty hunter turn around near me. Yet, it wasn't toward me. He lifted his EE-3 blaster rifle and fired off two shots. They ricocheted off of a white wall not too far away from his position and I heard a loud series of beeps and whistles.

"R2!" I let out a shout, then covered my mouth, "Crap."

Boba Fett turned to my direction and fired. I ducked down and ran back behind the wall as two more shots hit the wall. His aim was good, but my duck and turn was better and I dodged the bolts with relative ease.

Suddenly, it stopped and I looked over the side of the wall. Nothing.

Except Luke Skywalker coming out from the other wall.

"Luke!" I said, running over to him.

"Blaze?" Luke stopped, then smiled, "Blaze! Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Same here." I said, then nodded in the other direction, "Let's go. He went that way." I said and ran further down into the corridor.

Luke matched my stride until we came to another hall end and we saw Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando being transported away by Imperials. Luke held up his blaster and stepped forward, but I yanked him back just as one of the Stormtroopers caught sight of him and fired.

Leia looked up and her eyes widened, "Luke! It's a trap!" An Imperial grabbed her, but she shouted one more time, "LUKE! IT'S A TRAP!"

The Stormtrooper fired off again and it hit the wall and created a wall of smoke from the smoldering white wall. I couldn't see anything. Yet, at the last moment, I saw two forms run through where the Imperials ran.

 _Good job guys._ I thought as they left sight.

Luke looked at me and I nodded. We walked over to the door and opened it, revealing it to be a lift. We both stepped in, leaving a bemused R2-D2 behind.

* * *

The lift suddenly came to an abrupt stop and we found ourselves in a dimly lit room. Luke stepped off the lift floor and onto the room's dull black and orange grated ones that were very familiar to me. I followed his lead and the lift's flooring shut with a hiss.

Luke turned instinctively and had his pistol up in a spit second, but I waved it down. If I knew any better, I would've told him to bail out and we try to stop Fett, but I didn't. This had to be done.

It was part of his destiny just as it was mine.

Turning back around, I put my full attention on the room. There were dull gray access panels all around, but only one near the center of the room. As I took a step forward, I saw what _was_ in the center of the room.

It was a large, dark hole with tubes running inside it. Above the hole was a large, black and orange chunk of machinery with several wires and tubes running from the middle of the machine to the top and through the ceiling.

I knew what it was.

"Carbon Freeze." I whispered to myself rather than to Luke, "We're in the chamber…Great."

The lights in the floor and above us suddenly flashed to life with a thud, almost as if someone had slammed the master control switch with their hand. I craned my head away from the Carbon-Freezing Hold and turned back to Luke, but he was looking elsewhere.

I turned my head in the direction he was looking and frowned. In all his black cladded glory was Darth Vader. His mechanical breathing echoed throughout the chamber and rumbled in my ears.

For a brief moment, Luke looked at me, then back to Vader. At first, I thought it was a sign to leave it to him, but then I realized it meant for me to join him. I gave a nod and moved over to him, all the while never taking my eyes off of Vader.

"The Force is with you, young ones." Darth Vader said, then took a breath and continued, "But, you are not Jedi yet."

"We'll see about that." I muttered.

Luke said nothing, just as I thought he might, and started to walk up the stairs leading to Vader. I quickly followed until we were side-by-side in front of the Sith Lord.

There was a second of dreading silence only occupied by Vader's breathing and the sound of my heart thumping.

Luke unclipped his lightsaber and, with a sheer look of determination, ignited his father's Jedi lightsaber. I ignited my own cyan colored blade and held it at the ready. Vader, only moving his right arm, ignited his own blade with a slow _snap-hiss_ that only his weapon could produce.

The fight had begun.

The red blade crossed between both of our blades before Luke attack. His two strikes were easily blocked and he went for a third, but was pushed off onto the ground, just like in the movie. The attacks were futile.

Vader, surprisingly, raised his blade up for a downward slash, but I leaped in and caught the blade with my own and pushed Vader's blade back so Luke could get back to his feet. Once up, he charged.

Vader was a Sith, and once was a Jedi, so beating him in the beginning of the fight didn't seem realistic. But, now there were two Jedi fighting him instead of just one. Vader had faced Luke before on Mimban, but he'd never fought me in combat. As much as I hated to admit it, I was excited to see how the battle unfolded this time.

Luke aimed for Vader's head, but his blow was matched. I swung into the fray and clashed against both of their blades, making sparks fly in different directions. Suddenly, Vader disengaged and took a large step forward, giving him more momentum for his next attack. Both Luke and I blocked the quick strikes, but not before he cut a pipe from the ceiling.

I jumped back and ducked as he threw the large pipe at me. That was enough for Vader though. I ducked down farther and brought my blade to counter his coming strike, but Luke's lightsaber suddenly appeared and swatted away Vader's and I regained my balance.

The fight had just started and I was already losing ground. Vader's strikes were heavy and well-coordinated, so my defense against him wasn't as good as it normally was when I fought.

I was brought out of my stupor as a red blade swung above our heads and planted itself in between our blades. I twisted my body around to the right to dodge the follow up attack, but I could still feel the heat of his lightsaber against my side.

Gritting my teeth, I broke off the clash and did a twist in the air and landed on my feet, before Vader back kicked me in the chest. I flew backwards and landed on my back a few feet away from Vader and Luke. Luke, however, didn't break off the attack and he and Vader fell through with the clash with a drone of their lightsabers.

I got to my feet as Vader pointed a gloved finger at Luke, "You have learned much, young one."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises!" Luke retorted.

He stabbed his blade forward and delivered several slashes before Vader quickly disarmed him and his lightsaber was sent flying across the room. Vader raised his blade up again, but Luke threw himself down the stairs to avoid the would-be-death blow. I dived forward and caught the blade before it hit the floor, catching Vader by surprise. It was evident as his helmet turned to me sharply.

I smirked, "Going somewhere, Vader?"

The Sith Lord changed his grip on his blade and swung for my side, but I easily blocked and countered the attack with a similar one. Vader was a smart one, and so he blocked the strike while closing the proximity between us. I took notice of this and jumped over his head, but that was what he was counting on.

He ducked my slash aimed for his head and he grabbed my arm and threw me down next to the still prone Luke lying on the floor. In mid-air, I changed the way I landed and landed on my back instead of my head.

"God…" I breathed out once I saw my lightsaber next to Luke's.

Luke was up in an instant as Vader's boots hit the grated floor. I got up and stood next to him and looked into Vader's black mask.

"Your destinies lie with me, Jedi. Obi Wan knew this to be true." Vader said and I inwardly gave a snort.

 _Of course he did!_

"No." Luke said as he glared at Vader.

I attempted to move, but Vader slashed his lightsaber and we both fell backwards, into the Carbon-Freezing Hold. As we hit the ground, I got up as I heard Vader say, "All too easy."

Suddenly, I heard a high pitched swish and I knew he'd activated the machine above and below. I quickly jumped out and flipped backwards and Luke jumped upwards, grasping the tubes and pipes hanging from the ceiling. I landed on my feet and the white smoke of the Carbon-Freeze was enough to hide me from Vader's eyes.

I moved slowly around to his side while he spoke.

"Maybe you two aren't as strong as the Emperor thought."

I Force pulled my lightsaber to me, but kept it unlit until I knew it was right.

Luke slipped from his place on the ceiling tubes slightly and it creaked, giving Vader a warning. Vader looked upward, "Impressive." He said, before slicing one of the tubes close to Luke, releasing even more Carbon Mist into the room, "Most impressive."

Luke did a flip off the machinery and grabbed the tube Vader cut open and pointed it at the Dark Lord. Carbon Mist shot out and blinded the Sith momentarily as Luke regained his weapon with the Force.

"Now." I said quietly to myself and attacked, appearing right beside Luke. Our blades suddenly clashed with Vader's as he regained his balance.

Vader pushed off our attack, "You've been taught well. You have control of your fear." He taunted.

I brought my blade over-head and brought it down with tremendous force, then, after he blocked, went for his side. Despite only using one hand, Vader was very swift. He blocked both my attacks before catching Luke's in a struggle.

"Now, release your anger." Vader spoke, "Only your hatred can destroy me."

Luke front flipped over Vader's head and I twirled around the Sith, blocking another strike as I did so. Both Luke and I then poured out the almighty force of attacks on him and continued to make him back up to the edge of the chamber. With two precise strikes, his defense was broken and I was able to place a kick to his chest, sending him down below into the depths of the chamber.

Luke shut off his blade and clipped it to his waist and jumped after him. I did the same and we found ourselves in a circular hallway. Luke hit a switch on the top and it completely lit up with white lights.

"After you." I said absently and he walked in.

* * *

We jumped out of the end of the hall as it suddenly closed with steel gray doors. It hissed shut and I unclipped my hilt. I knew it would do that, but it still scared the crap out of me. I could feel my heart in my chest. So far, the battle had gone pretty much the same. I was hoping that with two we'd make more of a challenge, but Vader was strong.

Now it was just a matter of how much longer it would take.

We passed a large, circular table with building models on it. Most likely, they were construction plans for some further development. I walked forward until I was standing in front of a large, circular, glass viewport that overlooked the emergency platforms.

I suddenly turned around and ignited my lightsaber just as two more activated. Luke had both his hands wrapped around his hilt and so did Vader, but he looked more relaxed. Well, as relaxed as he could be under that mask. I moved forward slowly until I saw Vader's head change direction slightly and I heard metal tearing off of metal.

Luke suddenly swung around, slicing a large, steel pipe from the wall as it hurtled towards him. I leaped in and caught Vader's next strike with my lightsaber and all three of us resumed the duel.

As I parried a slash from Vader, Luke struck at the Sith but was met with equal force. I crossed my blade with both of theirs as Vader delivered a heavy overhead strike.

I cast a glance at Luke.

That was a mistake.

A box suddenly flew from the floor and wacked me upside the head. I flew backwards, losing my lightsaber on the way down to the ground. Another box flew from the floor and wacked Luke upside the head, but he stayed upright, though a look of pain flashed before his face.

Vader held his blade up and down, throwing several crates and pipes at Luke. Luke managed to dodge a few, but a lot of them started to hit him all over. My head was throbbing, but I knew that Luke was about to dodge one and he was going to fly out the window if I didn't do something.

Calling my weapon back to my hand, I stood up slowly and reached out with the Force. In the last few seconds of the connection, a large, silver box flew over Luke's head and headed toward the circular viewport. Least to say that I was prepared for it.

I closed my eyes and broke Vader's hold on the crate and lowered it to the floor. But, I didn't see the second one headed straight for me. I only saw the crate at the last second as it rammed up against my chest and sent me flying to the big window.

I grit my teeth together as my back slammed against the window and it cracked, then completely shattered, making me fly out of it. The crate came off in mid-air and I lost my breath but managed to hold onto my lightsaber. As I fell, I saw the walkway in front of me and reached out, grabbing the side bar.

Wind rushed as the room Vader was in pressurized and Luke suddenly flew out and landed on top of the walkway, his lightsaber landing right next to him.

 _Great…This time, I'm hanging from the bars!_ I thought sourly, pulling myself back up and collapsed on my back, despite the pain in my gut. _That's gonna bruise._

"You ok?" Luke gasped.

I gave a weak nod, "Yeah, but…"

"But what?" Luke said, opening an eye and looking at me.

I smirked, "He sucks."

I looked up and saw Vader peering over the side for a moment before he retreated back through the hole.

 _I hope you heard that, Vader._ I thought dryly before I got up to my feet, along with Luke. I looked myself over as I made up. I had a long cut that ran across my forearm, and was bleeding slightly and I had a heck of a welt on the side of my head from the first round of attacks of the crates. I pulled my combat shirt up—which was ripped along the top of my right sleeve, along with my left thigh and left rib cage—and winced as I saw the large, red and purple circle forming around my chest area, along with a few scratches that came from the edges.

I pulled my shirt down and leaned against the wall.

Luke looked at me, "Come on, he's that way." He started to shimmy across the wall and I followed reluctantly. Whatever excitement I felt before was gone and was replaced with pain. I didn't think I would get tossed around so much, but I was wrong. The adrenaline was still there, but the excitement for facing a Sith Lord wasn't.

We continued along the walkway until we came back to the entrance of the emergency platform. I looked inside and was about to ask Luke if we should both go in when he actually _did_ go in. I mentally cursed at him and walked after him, but stopped when I heard the faint sound of a metallic breathing.

"Luke!" I shouted in alarm when Vader suddenly shot out of the shadows and swung at Luke with his red lightsaber. Luke's own blade was activated a split second later and he was blocking hit after hit from the Sith Lord. I reactivated my own blade, but I backed up until I was on the walkway.

Luke broke off the attack and moved from wall to wall and eventually made it back to the entrance of the door, but Vader was right behind him. He swung his blade twice, only striking the ground and wall before clashing completely with Luke's rebounded strike.

They soon caught up with where I was and I joined the fray, parrying blow after blow from Vader's ruthless assault.

After several more attacks, Luke slipped up and Vader threw him to the ground, but farther away than his intended location. In fact, it was almost to the weather vane this time. Luke lay on the ground, motionless and Vader focused his sights on me.

He clashed blades with mine and shoved me to the ground where Luke was supposed to go. I suddenly found myself staring into the tip of Vader's blood red lightsaber. I felt my heart start racing as I realized I was in the exact situation that Luke was in Episode V.

"You are beaten. It's useless to resist." Vader said, "Don't let yourself be destroyed as your parents did."

I felt complete shock run through my body. _He knew my parents?!_

Then, I felt overwhelming rage. I scowled darkly at him and swatted his blade away and rolled to the side. Vade slashed downward, but he hit the flooring right below Luke. He turned back to me and struck. I blocked his strike and delivered my own attack.

He suddenly locked blades with me and I smirked, "Well, I know who you are Vader. And no matter how hard you try, you can't escape who you really are."

Vader's surprise was small, but he replaced it with rage and broke the lock, swinging for my head. Luke got up and was about to attack, when I took one last swing at Vader. My blade made contact with his shoulder and he reeled back a little.

With a metallic growl, Vader pushed me back with the Force and I slammed up against the railing of the walkway. He didn't stop there. He followed through with another slash, but Luke blocked it inches away from my face. Vader grabbed me with his other hand and hurled me over his shoulder, behind him on the back of the walkway.

I quickly got to my feet, but not before Vader sliced the weather vane in half and swatted away Luke's defenses. I jumped over Vader's head and blocked the slash that would've cost Luke his hand, but, at the last possible second, Vader brought his lightsaber back in a rebounded attack.

I wasn't prepared for it in the slightest.

His blade soared upward and cut off my left hand at the wrist.

"AH!" I shouted in pain before he Force pushed me back, making me hit the six foot metal group of pipes that once led to the weather vane.

My lightsaber, still grasped firmly in my right hand, fell from my grip, but only made it half way down my body before I grabbed it and clicked it to my belt. I could feel my body start to shake and I fell forward, losing all sensation in my legs.

At the last second, I grabbed the circular valve near the bottom of the pipe and hung on for dear life, despite seeing white blotches flash before my eyes. I was in so much pain, more than I'd ever been in my entire life on Earth. Up to this point, nothing even came close.

"Blaze!" Luke shouted out, then attacked Vader, but Vader caught Luke's blade in his own and brought his blade up again, severing his right hand again. Luke screamed out in pain, before falling on his knees, right in front of Vader's still active lightsaber.

Luke backed up and leaned on the small ledge of the pipe that connected to the group of pipes and moved backwards as Vader spoke.

"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you." Vader began. "Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power." He then turned to me, "And you, you are just as important as he. The Emperor knows this." He then started to speak to both of us, "Join me, and together I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict…and bring order to the galaxy."

"I'll never join you!" Luke shouted as he made it to the end of the pipes and held onto the side of one of the slender pipes.

"Never!" I shouted, fighting to overcome the white blotches trying to take over me vision, "You can forget it, Vader!"

"If only you knew the power of the Dark Side." Vader clenched a fist, obviously irritated at our incompliance. He then turned to me, "You never knew _why_ you were sent away all those years ago."

I felt shocked to my very core, but I screamed back, "And you wouldn't know!"

He ignored me, then turned to Luke, "Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father."

 _This is it! I'm sorry Luke. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent you losing your hand._ I thought, then felt my grip loosening. My heart started racing and I clenched my one hand tighter, trying to hold on for a little longer.

"He told me enough!" Luke shouted back, "He told me you killed him."

Despite this being a very volatile situation, I felt a chuckle rise in my throat. _Here comes the biggest reveal in history._

"No." Vader said, his voice almost soft, " _I_ am your father."

The rest was blocked out as I felt myself slipping into the darkness. Suddenly, my hand slipped and I fell as I heard Luke cry out in despair and disbelief, "NOOO!"

As I fell, I could feel the reaches of unconsciousness trying to knock at my door, but I knew that if I let it in, I wouldn't be able to get back up. If I closed my eyes, I was going to die. I was going to succumb to shock.

I flew through the air until I fell into one of the dozens of circular ventilation shafts that led to the weather vanes below the city. All the while, I was trying to stay conscious, I could still feel C with me as I did. I could feel her comforting presence and how she was trying to keep me awake.

Yet, she was distressed.

 ** _"_** ** _Hold on Blaze!"_**

 _Easy for you to say…_

She was part of the Force, but she couldn't see the future. She didn't know this was going to happen. Most likely, anyway.

As I fell through the brightly lit tunnels, I was questioning everything.

How had it come to this?

 _Why did I even participate in that fight? All it did was cost me my hand!_ Tears prickled into my eyes and I let myself slide without sound. Even now, I wouldn't cry.

I suddenly stopped and I looked around, but then remembered what was next.

"Crap!" I shouted as I fell downward and out of the city. I landed roughly on a long weather vane. My legs connected with the thin material holding the arms of the weather device together and I silently thanked my ability to hang from stuff. At least I could hold on.

Until I couldn't fight the darkness anymore.


	11. Chapter XI: Rescues and Talks

**C** **hapter** **XI** **: Rescues and Talks**

 ** _"_** ** _Make me feel better; make me feel better! Stay with me here now; and never surrender." Skillet-Never Surrender._**

Minutes later, Luke came tumbling down the hole I fell through and onto the weather vane's other arm beside me. He cried out as his arm hit the side, but he regained some hold when he used his other hand. I was in pain too, but it wasn't the end yet. I couldn't let it be the end.

"Luke!" I called. "Hang on!"

"Ben…" He muttered, losing his grip and letting go with his hand, but keeping a steady hold with his feet, "Ben. Ben, please."

"Obi Wan's not gonna help us." I muttered, tucking my severed arm under my armpit. The white blotches returned and I fought consciousness again. I turned to Luke, "Call for Leia."

Luke looked up at me, "What?"

"Just do it, Skywalker!" I shouted, "We're about to die and we need to try to call to her."

Luke closed his eyes, "Leia…Hear me…Leia."

He looked back up at me and he frowned, "I can't hear anything back, Blaze…I think this is the end."

I shook my head, tears coming to my eyes. It worked in the movies. Why wasn't it working now? Of all times, it had to fail us now?

"No! I refuse to let that happen!" I gripped the weather vane tighter, "Just hold on, Luke. I'm gonna call Sonya."

"Who?" Luke asked, weakly as he regained his balance on the weather machine with his left hand.

I closed my eyes and tapped deeply into the Force. At first, nothing. Then, in a rush of cold wind, I suddenly found myself completely immersed in it. I couldn't feel the pain in my arm anymore. All I could feel was the Force…and Sonya's presence in the Force.

I reached out and tapped her mind, _"Sonya…Sonya…Listen to me."_

 _"_ _B-Blaze?"_ I heard her shaky response.

 _"_ _Yes, tell Lando to pull the ship around…to the bottom of the city…Luke and I are injured and don't know how much longer we can take it."_ I felt the connection start to recede, but then it came back in full. It was as if Sonya tapped into the Force to enhance the connection.

 _"_ _Blaze! You hold on! Please, just hold on!"_

I managed a weak smile, the pain of my injury slowly coming back. _"I'll try. Sonya?"_

 _"_ _What, Blaze?"_

 _"_ _I just want you to know…"_ I swallowed, wondering if I was going to say the right thing. But, if this was the end, there was nothing wrong to say. It was now or never. _"I just want you to know…that I wouldn't trade the time we spent together back then, or now, for anything. I-I'm glad that I got to see you again…"_

 _"_ _BLAZE!"_

That was it and the connection was no more.

I felt the darkness start to come over me and I felt Luke having the same problem. We both were injured and our bodies were going into shock. If they didn't get here soon, we'd be goners. Our bodies would shut down and we'd fall off into the gas abyss.

After several minutes, I loosened my grip as the strength in my one arm started to fail me.

 _Maybe death won't be so bad._ I thought.

Then I heard a roar of engines. I looked below me and saw the _Millennium Falcon_ hovering below us. Every part of my body screamed at me to let go and fall onto the hull of the ship, no matter how much it hurt, but I knew Lando would be coming up soon to get us down.

As if on cue, the dark skinned human suddenly appeared through a circular hatch on the _Falcon's_ hull and he reached up for Luke. Luke let go and fell into Lando's arms. About thirty seconds later, he came back for me and I gratefully let go, my fight with consciousness not going well. Lando caught me and we both retreated into the _Falcon._

My vision suddenly became very blurred and I lost consciousness.

* * *

I don't know when I woke up, but I couldn't have been out long because we were still being chased by TIE fighters, but we were in space, as I could see from the small viewport in the room I was in. I looked over to the side and saw that there was a second place where Luke must've been, but he was in the cockpit by now.

I sighed deeply and pulled the tubes in my left forearm out and grunted as I got to my feet.

 _"_ _Blaze."_

I reeled back at the darkness coming into my mind. I soon recognized it as Vader.

 _"_ _Vader."_ I replied back sarcastically through my mind. _"So good to hear from you."_

 _"_ _You have no idea about your past."_ Vader was cutting it close, if you ask me. _"Come with me, it is the only way you'll discover it."_

I grimaced. _"I think I'll take my chances with my friends. I think I'll find out who I am on my own. Plus, while I'm doing that, you can wrestle with the fact that Anakin Skywalker was just awaked in your soul."_

Vader was silent for a moment. _"How you know is surprising, but you are wrong. That name no longer has any meaning to me."_

I smirked. _"Keep saying that to yourself, Anakin."_

 _"_ _Blaze, you don't know—"_

I cut him off and let a small smirk come to my face. _"I do. Suck it!"_

The connection was severed into almost a split second. I had no intention to continue talking with him. Yet, I had to later on if I had any shot at redeeming him.

I slowly walked over to the entrance of the room and walked out. I looked down the halls of the Falcon. They looked just as I thought they would. From the thinly grated floors to the circular archways above the thresholds of the door frames. I heard Threepio jabbering to Artoo about how he shouldn't be talking to strange computers and he should just let Chewbacca handle fixing the ship.

I turned and saw him. I glared at the bot as he saw me, "Just shut it! Artoo knows what he's doing."

Artoo gave an appreciative beep.

Threepio looked at me, "And how would you know the hyperdrive works?"

I gave a smirk as a loud beep signaled that the hyperdrive was back on. Threepio forgot his question to me and shouted, "You did it!" Then the ship flew forward into hyperspace.

I steadied myself and smirked, "Knew he would."

I stumbled through the halls of the massive ship before coming to the entrance of the cockpit. I looked in and saw most of the group. Though I probably should've been lying down, I kept stumbling through the halls, my severed arm under my other armpit.

Suddenly, the white blotches obstructed my vision again and I fell to my knees, my entire body throbbing in pain. After a few seconds, I felt myself start to fade into the blackness, but I suddenly felt two, soft hands catch me before I fell to the ground.

I looked upwards and smiled, "Sonya."

Sonya smiled at me, but I went black before I could hear what she said back. It must've been meaningful though. She had tears in her eyes.

* * *

Hours passed before I regained consciousness, but when I did, I greeting it with wide eyes. I gasped suddenly as I felt a small pain in my left wrist. I looked at the severed hand…only to see it wasn't severed anymore. In fact, the hand was there, just as I thought it might look.

I waved the hand a little and clenched my fist and felt the difference. I frowned, "Prosthetic."

I slapped myself on the forehead and I felt anger come over me, "Come on, Blaze! You just let Vader chop off your hand! You knew it was coming. You should've tried harder!"

"You tried as hard as you could." I heard.

I looked over and, sitting in a chair, Galen was looked at me with sympathy in his eyes.

I scoffed, "I knew his movements and I still lost."

"Blaze, you have to remember that you haven't been a Jedi for long, yet you've been able to fully handle the lightsaber. But, Vader is a Sith. He has experience over you." Galen said, then clicked his tongue in his mouth, "Even I had trouble facing him at that age. You should feel proud that you did so well."

"It wasn't good enough." I said, holding up my left hand, "You see, I knew going in there that I would face Vader, but I thought it might be easy."

"Going up against Vader is never easy and never will be." Galen said.

I turned to him and suddenly said, "I need some time to think."

Galen got up and walked over to me and patted my shoulder, "Of course. Take time to rest. You've earned it."

"You can say that again." I muttered, but smiled weakly, "Thanks…" Then someone popped into my mind, "Hey, I can sense Dave but where is Ali?"

Galen stopped at the door and looked back at me, "The red head?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"She's in one of the medical stations. She was shot in the shoulder prior to her rescue by your friend Dave." Galen said, "But, she's alright now."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Well, at least she's safe. I was starting to think we forgot about her."

"I wouldn't let something like that happen to your friends, Blaze." Galen said.

"Thanks again." I said, gratefully.

He nodded and left the room, leaving me all alone. Days ago, I would've loved to be alone in my room with my computer on my lap as I typed helplessly away. But, now, I felt _empty._ The Force was there, but there was something very different of the feeling of being alone.

The door opened up a few minutes later. I was lying down on the bed I woke up on, my back facing the door. I reached out gently into the Force and found a presence. One I'd hope to see again.

"Sonya." I said, not looking at her, "I was wondering when you were going to come visit me."

"I just came to check on you." Her voice was soft.

I sat up and looked at her. Her hair was down and she was in black shorts and a light gray tank top, but she looked like she had been crying. I gave her a confused look, "Have you been crying?"

She nodded meekly, "Yes."

"Why?"

Sonya blushed, "It's stupid, but…it's because I thought I lost you."

It was my turn to blush, "Er, sorry I made you think that."

Sonya gave a light chuckle and walked over to my bed. She smiled at me and her eye sparkled with emotion, "It's okay, but never do that to me again."

I smiled, "I'll try not to."

Sonya grabbed my hands, "No, _promise_ me you won't do that again."

I stared at our hands for a moment, trying to come up with a thought. After a few seconds, I looked back up into her green-blue eyes and nodded, "I promise I won't do that again."

Sonya suddenly leaned towards my face. I instinctively pulled back and she looked at me, hurt reflecting off her glistening eyes.

I raised an eyebrow, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Sonya colored, clearly embarrassed, "Uh…N-Nothing."

I winked at her and felt my heart jump into my throat as I placed my hands and cupped her cheeks. I smiled and lowered my face down to hers. I felt totally in control. When our lips were centimeters apart, I whispered with a smirk, "Is this what you were trying to do?"

"Yes." She whispered, closing her eyes as my lips descended on hers. The kiss was soft and smooth. Her mouth moved against mine and I brought her closer to me, almost on the bed with me. After about ten seconds, I pulled back and she smiled at me, though her cheeks were set ablaze.

I smirked, "How was that?"

Sonya looked at me and smiled widely, "Amazing." She then giggled, "Cliché, huh?"

"Nah." I shook my head, "Just not original."

"That's what cliché can mean." She giggled at me.

"Oh. I guess I forgot that." I said, then pulled her to my chest, my arms around her waist. Even though my left hand was made of metal and a synth-flesh from my own skin, I could still feel the fabric of her shirt. Sonya adjusted herself in my grip and laid her back against my chest. She sighed gently and reached a hand up, touching my face. Just like on the _Home One_ , I leaned my face into the hand.

"This makes things more interesting." Sonya stated, her voice giddy.

I nodded, kissing her palm, "Yeah, who knew I could do this to girls?"

Sonya looked up to me and smiled gently, "I did. I knew you, even though I didn't. I knew your heart." She said, almost in a whisper. Something in her words made me relax and I nodded, resting my head on the top of her head.

"That is comforting." I said, then winced as she moved hitting me in the ribs as she did so.

I cried out in pain and she reeled back, her eyes flashing with worry, "Sorry!" She said.

I grit my teeth. "It's okay." I chuckled, "Moment…ruined by a rib."

Sonya looked at me and held her hand up to me, "Let me."

"Let you what?" I asked.

Sonya shushed me and laid her hand on my ribs. Suddenly, I found my side start to glow and I felt the cool sensation of the Force flow through me, but it was mostly focused on the one spot on my ribs. Moments ago, they were bruised, maybe even cracked, but now they felt amazing.

It was like nothing had happened to them at all.

"How did you do that?" I asked, then realized, "You're Force sensitive!"

Sonya raised her eyebrow, breaking into a huge smile, "I am? My mother just told me that I was just special. I had no idea I was using the Force!"

I nodded vigorously, "This is great!" I touched my ribs and felt no pain, "Oh, and thank you."

She smiled at me and kissed my cheek before getting off the bed and straightening out her clothes. She cleared her throat, then smiled at me again, "Well, I'd better be off."

I stood up and nodded, remembering about Myra all of a sudden, "Yeah, me too. I've got to talk to someone."

Sonya suddenly scowled, "I hope it's not that Sith girl you let come aboard."

I gave Sonya an exasperated look, "It is. She's my sister, after all. I have to talk to her."

"I don't trust her, even if she is your sister." Sonya said, her voice low.

I cocked an eyebrow, "You haven't even met her."

"No, I haven't." Sonya said. "But, the tone you used when you told me to go suggested she was someone I didn't want to get to know. Plus, I could feel a lurking darkness in her."

"She has been raised by a Sith for several years. I'm not sure how long I was gone, but it couldn't have been for more than eight years. Nevertheless, please don't be mean to her. She just left the Empire and figured out that her brother..." I pointed to myself, "…is still alive. She's gone through more than I had. I have to hear her out."

Sonya gave a short huff, but I felt her ease in the Force. She looked at the door, then back to me and smiled gently, "Okay. If you think that this is the right way to go, then do it."

I nodded, "Thank you."

Sonya grinned and walked behind me. She put her hands on my back and pushed me forward, "Now, get going."

I looked backwards at her and wiggled my eyebrows, "Want to get rid of me so fast?"

"Just go, flyboy." Sonya said and I left the room, a smile plastered on my face.

* * *

I walked down the corridors of the _Paradise Detour_ , a Nebula-2 class medical frigate, and found my way to Myra's quarters. After I left the room where Sonya, Galen, and I talked, I went to Juno down in the hangar. I asked her about what happened to Myra after we all got to the Rendezvous point. Juno said that Galen had her put in one of the special quarters where the Force was cut off from someone. She told me Galen had it installed after he felt a disturbance in the Force three years previous.

I didn't inquire about the room after that.

I looked for an access panel on the wall and found only a scanner. It was light blue and white gridded with a hand scanner attached. I looked at it for a moment before placing my hand on it. Nothing happened after a few seconds and I removed my hand.

Then a thought came to mind.

 _Galen, you sly dog._ I thought with a grin as I passed a hand over the scanner with the Force. There was a small beep and the blue and white grid turned green and the door slid open. At first, I reached out with the Force to search for Myra's signal, but, true to her words, Juno was right. The room was completely cut off from the Force.

I shrugged, "Aw well. I lived without it for seven or eight years, I don't need it to go in." I patted my lightsaber, "I've got this."

As I stepped in, the door slid closed behind me. At first, I felt panic arise in my chest, but then I realized I had a wrist comm. on me. I could just call Galen to see what the way out was.

But, I had to focus on the here and now. Right now, I had to talk to my _sister._

I looked around the room and saw that it was an exact copy of the joint-rooms I shared with Sonya. I came further into the room, when I looked around the side where the refresher was. There was a small beep that I recognized as the sanisteam turning off.

The door to the refresher was shut and I walked back to where the bed was. I sat on the end and waited there for her to get out. As I sat there, I clenched my new hand several times. Even though it was an exact replica of the one I lost, it still wasn't the same.

 _That wasn't how that was supposed to go._ I mused in my head.

The plan was that I would go with Luke to face his father, but Luke wouldn't lose his hand and maybe, just maybe, I would be able to appeal to the good in Vader. But, that isn't at all how it went. Not only did Luke lose his hand _again_ , but so did I.

"At least it wasn't my right hand." I said, trying to turn positive. I waved my hand around for a moment and judged the weight difference, only to find that there wasn't one. It was the same weight as a regular hand. It was just the _feeling_ of the hand that was different. Sure, they had tried to replicate feeling, but it just wasn't the same.

I then wondered if that was how Luke felt when he first got his new, prosthetic hand.

The door to the refresher suddenly slid open and I looked ahead. Myra was wearing long, gray sweat pants and a short sleeved white undershirt with a dull blue, almost black, shirt over it. She had her wet hair down and it cascaded down her shoulders and back as she turned around, coming out completely.

She was completely unaware of my presence until I stood up. Her eyes sparkled a dark green and she smiled at me, "Blaze!"

"Hello, Myra." I offered a small smile.

"You actually came." She said.

I nodded, "I said we would talk and here I am."

Myra walked over to me and laid a hand on my left hand, "I-I heard about your hand."

I gave her a nod, "Yeah, that's what I get for going up against Vader thinking I could win."

Myra looked up into my face, "Vader? I don't understand. Why would he do that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Myra seemed to mull this over in her head, "Well, he's…he's the reason I'm still alive."

"Vader?" I asked, my voice not betraying the shock I felt. " _He's_ the reason you're alive? How is _he_ the reason you're alive?"

Myra gestured to the bed, "Want to sit?"

I nodded and took a seat. Myra climbed onto the bed next to me and looked at me. She took a deep breath, "Okay. It was the day…the day after your ship was _shot down."_ Myra said, disgust seeping into her voice. "Palpatine took me and tried to start training me, but I was adamant in not doing what he said because you were gone and because Mom and Dad were gone too. Palpatine got mad at me and tried to kill me with a blast of lightning…but, Vader saved me."

"He _saved_ you?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Myra nodded and continued to speak, "Yeah, he did. He grabbed me just as the lightning came within a foot of my face. He proposed that he take a small amount of time to train me, then Palpatine could decide my fate. After a year, Vader had me delve into the Dark Side. He made me all but forget about my family and made sure that by the time he was done that Palpatine would have to accept me."

"So, he saved you, but tainted you in the same way." I said, sighing, "Doesn't sound like saving to me."

"He saved me from death. I never said he saved me from the Dark Side." Myra pointed off.

I nodded, "True, but what do you plan to do now?"

"I was hoping that…you could help me get rid of the Dark Side." Myra said meekly, her face not to me.

I gently grabbed her chin and made her look at me, "Only if you do something for me."

Myra smiled, "Anything. I promise."

 _"_ _You don't know why you were sent away."_ Vader's voice repeated in my head.

I took a deep breath and released her chin, "What happened that day? What happened to our parents?"

Myra sighed, her breathing suddenly turned ragged and I saw tears accumulate in her eyes. A moment later, she choked out, "They died for us."

"You saw them die?" I asked, fearing the answer.

Myra nodded, "Yes. Palpatine came personally. Mom and Dad had you in a pod and were in the process of getting me into one, but they never were able as Stormtroopers came in with Vader and Palpatine trailing behind him. Before Dad died, he activated your pod and you left. Hours after that, Palpatine told me you were dead."

"How long ago was that?" I felt a pit forming in my stomach.

"About seven years ago." Myra said, then grabbed my forearm. I looked down at her and she smiled weakly at me. I saw a lone tear slip through her eyelids, "I'm j-just glad you're alive."

I smiled and opened up my arms. Myra wasted no time in wrapping her own arms around my torso and burying her head in my chest. She was crying, but it was tears of joy. I guess I should've been crying too, but I didn't. I just rocked back and forth on the bed with my sister in my arms.

I kissed the top of her head and chuckled, "Head smells good."

Myra laughed at my attempt to lighten the mood, "Thanks."

I decided to move on to more conventional questions, "So, how old are you?"

Myra raised her head from my chest and looked up into my eyes. Her own eyes sparkled with mischief. She shook her head, "Blaze, don't you know it's rude to ask a woman how old she is?"

I grinned, "Yeah. But, you're my sister, so I get a pass."

Myra smiled wider at the word 'sister' and she relented, "I turned fifteen two months ago."

"Oh." I said, "I turned sixteen six months ago. That makes me older, so it also makes me in charge." I teased.

Myra giggled, "Not fair!"

I nodded, "Yes, fair."

There was a pause of silence and I could feel Myra lay her head back on my chest. I held her gently and she relaxed against my hold. She sighed and hummed to herself. It was a strange tune, but a familiar one nonetheless.

"Whatcha humming?" I asked gently.

"Just a tune Mom would sing to us when we were little." Myra said. "It's called _Last Sunset."_

"It's nice." I said and I hummed along with her.

There was another long silence before Myra released me and pointed to my lightsaber, "So you kept it?"

I unclipped the weapon and held it up, "Yeah, I did. I didn't have much of a choice. It has helped me a lot." I gave her a wink, "But, don't you dare think I'll return it."

Myra shook her head, "No, you don't have to. That man, Galen, took my lightsaber when I got on the ship."

"I'll try to get it back." I said, "But, you might want to replace the crystal."

"With what?" She asked.

I mused to myself for a moment before snapping my fingers together, "Grow your own."

"You mean use the Force to create a synthetic crystal?" Myra asked, the smiled, "That would be great if they deactivated this room's Force inhibiter."

I gave her a sidelong look, "I'll try to get it disabled…but are you sure you're done with the Dark Side?"

Myra looked at me long and hard. Even without the Force, I could almost feel her feelings rumbling inside her head and in her heart. It was then I realized that she and I had the same eyes. And I could see right into her. There was determination and strength, but there was weakness in there too.

She was willing to throw everything she learned away for her family.

That would be me.

"Yes." Myra said, "I promise you, Blaze, I will never go back to the Dark Side. As long as I have you, then I'll stay with the Light. I want to walk in the footsteps of our parents and the path that you're walking."

I let my eyes widen and I let a smile come to my face. Was she going to say…?

"I want to be a Jedi."

I grabbed her hands and smiled brightly. Hearing this made my heart jump slightly. If she could turn from the darkness, who else could? She'd lived with it for so long and now she was throwing it all away for me. For the Light.

I nodded, "And you will become one. We _both_ will. _Together._ "

"You promise?" Myra asked.

"I promise." I said, then my stomach growled effectively ruining the mood.

Myra burst out into laughter, "You and that stomach!"

I blushed, "It's not my fault I'm starving. I haven't had anything since hours before the fight with Vader."

Myra mulled this over in her head, "Want to go?"

I nodded, "I do." Then I stood up off the bed, followed by my sister, and then placed a hand on her head. She was a good six inches smaller than me. I grinned innocently at her, "But, you're going with me."

"Is that allowed?" Myra asked. "I mean, they haven't come back to question me. They'll probably want to ask me about the stuff the Emperor let me know and the intel I was good with and all that stuff."

I nodded, "Oh, they will. But they can wait until after I've had lunch with my sister. Unless, you want to stay here?"

Myra shook her head, "No!" She exclaimed, "Take me with you." She latched onto my arm and I laughed at her.

"Come on, sis." I teased, "Let's go get some grub."

Myra nodded, "Okay, bro." She teased back.

We walked to the door, both of us laughing, when it suddenly flew open with a hiss and there stood Galen Marek. He looked at me, then at Myra. Only, with Myra, his eyes were cold and observant. When she didn't back down, he nodded to her, then turned to me.

My stomach growled louder.

He cracked a smile, "Mess hall is down a floor."

I nodded and laid my free hand, which was my left hand, on his shoulder, "Thanks, Galen. For everything."

"Don't thank me yet." He said, "Now we have to find Solo."

"Yeah." I drawled the word out, "Let's work on that _after_ lunch."

Galen cracked another smile, "Deal."

I walked along, passing Galen, and turned my head to look at Myra, "Now, we can go chow down on some nerf steak!"


End file.
